Pioneer Food and
Medicines
The following is taken
from a Schroer family history, written by Anna E. Schroer, and is a
description of farm life in Auglaize County in the mid 1800's.
An apple orchard of fifteen
to twenty trees was considered a must for each farmer. Apples were
mostly used for eating out of hand as a snack any time of day. They
were stewed or baked or used for making cider to drink or for making
vinegar. 'Dried apples' were made and mostly eaten by the children of
the family.
Bushels of apples were used
to make the year's supply of 20 to 25 or more gallons of apple butter,
the making of which meant gathering 20 to 30 bushels of good cider
apples. These were then taken to the cider mill, where the apples were
put through a grinder, then into a large press, yielding about 50
gallons of cider. This was then kept until the next morning, when very
early it was put into 30 to 50 gallon copper kettles to be cooked down
to half its amount or less. Then one or two bushels of peeled and
quartered apples, prepared by a group of friends and neighbors the
night before, were added to the still-cooking cider. Now with a
long-handled 'stirrer' began the long hours of constant stirring so as
to avoid scorching the bottom. This continued until the apple butter
did not drip from the 'stirrer' when it was lifted above the now very
slowly cooking apple butter. It was then that the fire was raked away
from under the kettle, the butter then laddled into clean heated stone
crocks or glass jars. It would keep for a year or more without sealing,
when tightly covered with a tied paper over the top of the crock after
it was cold. It was now usually almost midnight and time for bed since
the kettles had been kept boiling since 4 a.m. that morning. But now
another item had been added to the year's supply of food. This process
was usually repeated two or three times a year.
The kettle was used only for
making apple butter was of the finest shiny copper. It was hung over a
sturdy 10 to 12 foot cleanly-shaven pole. It was supported on each end
by two forked props, and held by a tripod of heavy iron. The 'stirrer'
was made of ash wood, a board 20 inches or more long, and about five
inches wide at the top tapering to six or seven inches in width at the
bottom. This board has five or six inch-wide holes in the wide end and
a larger hold in the top for the seven to eight foot handle necessary
for the person stirring to keep a safe distance from the fire. The
kettle and the 'stirrer' were very carefully stored to keep the sides
and bottom from being bumped and forming small hollowed places in the
bottom or sides of the kettle. This is very important to keep the apple
butter from having a burnt flavor.
The evening before the day
for the apple butter booking, a few neighbors were asked to come in to
help peel and quarter the choicest large apples of best cooking quality
and fine grained. Often mostly the younger people came to this 'apple
peeling.' After the two bushels of cut apples were finished, a short
gala time was had drinking and tasting the cider and usually doughnuts
were served with the cider. Now for the walk home through the fields or
along much traveled foot paths and maybe another day to help some other
neighbor with their 'apple peeling.'
Vinegar was also made on the
farm by simply 'laying away' a barrel full of cider to sour. The result
was usually a vinegar of very fine quality. Vinegar was much used by
the housewife in earlier days to add to fruits and vegetables for its
keeping qualities. It was added to drinking water during hot weather to
make a cooling drink as well as being medicinal for intestinal
distsurbances. Cucumbers were put in brine during the summer. During
the fall and winter months they were taken out of the brine and
freshened with water changes. This was done a few times until almost
all the salt was removed, then put into a solution of half vinegar and
half water. Adding a little honey at serving time made them very
delicious.
Vinegar was also used to
clean metals and set dyes for the woolens from their sheep. Vinegar
added to the laundry rinse water for colored clothes made the colors
brighter.
A grape arbor was also
considered a must for the family in earlier days. Grapes were mostly
eaten fresh, some for an occasional pie, but not very many were used to
make grape jelly. Jellies of any kind were considered to be too
expensive. Grape wine was made on the farms. The very ripe grapes were
washed and picked from the bunches. Only the fully ripe good grapes
were used. They were then put in clean earthen jars and crushed. To
each gallon of crushed grapes was added one-half gallon of hot water -
must not be boiling hot. This was stirred well, covered tightly and set
in a warm place to ferment. After about 20 to 24 hours, when
fermentation has begun so that it is bubbly when stirred, it was
strained and all the juice pressed out. Only wooden spoons or ladles
were used and earthen, glass or enamelware. Then add two to three
pounds of granulated sugar to each gallon of juice, mix well and set in
a very warm place, tightly covered with one layer of thin cloth as it
needs some air at this stage to complete fermentation, usually from
three to five weeks. Then drain off the clear wine and seal rather
tightly, but not altogether tight. Now set in a cool place to ripen for
three to six months. Then seal tightly.
Wine of any kind was used as
a medicine in case of colds. Also, as a stimulant in cases of summer
complaints, dysentery, etc. A wine soup was made with about one quart
of sweet milk brought to a boil. Then a mixture of one egg, one half
tablespoon of flour, two tablespoons of sugar, a bit of salt, was added
to the boiling milk. Continue boiling for one minute, remove from heat
and add a half cup of wine. Serve with sweiback. Often during harvest
time wine and some sugar was added to the drinking water. It would also
be served with bread or sweiback as a snack before bed time.
Soap for family use was made
on the farm during the fall and winter months. Used fats and scraps of
fatty meats were collected in crocks. Lye for the soap was made in part
of a large hollow sycamore tree, which was used to make a 'barrel-like'
container four to five feet in length. This was set on a platform, one
side of which was one to two inches lower for better drainage. A three
to four inch layer of straw was placed in the bottom of the barrel,
which was then filled with wood ashes collected from the fireplace or
stove or brushpiles early in the spring. Occasionally some water was
poured into the barrel to moisten and settle the ashes. Then when time
came to make soap enough water was added over a period of days to start
the 'flow' of lye which was collected into crocks. When enough lye had
been collected some of the lye was poured into a large iron kettle hung
on a strong pole, which was supported on each end by two forked props,
over the place for the fire under the iron kettle. All of this was then
boiled until the mass was like a thick soup, and when the long wooden
ladle was lifted from the mixture the air would blow white strands of
soap. It was then left to cool, then cut in pieces to dry. Sometimes
the soap was better after a second boiling with more lye added. The
result usually made a soap of good quality. If the housewife wanted a
clean bright kitchen floor she would place about a gallon or two of
wood ashes in a crock, pour some boiling water over the ashes, let
stand for an hour or more, dip off the lye and add some to the water in
her scrub pail. Also some would be used in the family weekly washwater.
The result was a cleaner and brighter wash.
Milk was extensively used as
a drink and in cooking. Refrigeration of milk was not possible in
earlier days. Fresh milk was strained into half-gallon crocks and set
on the floor of the vegetable cave during the summer. Each crock was
carefully covered by a square piece of board and the crocks stacked on
top of each other - maybe two to three high. Each evening the cream was
carefully laddled off, set aside to sour and later churned into butter,
to be sold or exchanged for merchandise. The milk from which the cream
had been removed, which when it was sour, thick and set like a custard,
was served with some sweet milk, brown sugar and a bit of cinnamon or
nutmeg - a very good dish. Sour milk or clabbermilk, as it was then
known, was much used in the making of pancake batters, for cottage
cheese and some families made longhorn yellow cheese. The milk not used
for food was fed to the farm animals.
Lengths of large hollow
sycamore trees were used for grain storage, set up in the corner of the
barn. There would be a small opening at the bottom to let out the grain
and a stout end of a ladder set up on one side to the top.
Sycamore logs were also used
to make troughs by sawing the long in two lengthwise, and the ends
fitted tightly together with boards. The inside walls were smoothed
with an adz. Smaller troughs, made on the same order were used to feed
cooked mash to the milk cows during the winter months. The 'mash'
consisted of chopped oats, cowbeets, small potatoes, apples, turnips,
very small ears of corn, leaves, small heads of cabbage, carrots,
rutabagoes, all of which were put into an iron kettle which was
stationary in a frame of brick and mortar usually in a utility
building. A lot of water was added to the mixture and then cooked for
hours. The warmth of the cooking was much appreciated by those members
of the family doing the chores, since the brick oven was kept going
every day. There was plenty of wood to burn so that the warmth was
constant. Also, this was a place for neighbors to exchange plans and
news and help the younger members crack nuts from the hickory nut
barrel in the corner, or popping popcorn on the coals under the kettle.
Also, apples were always on hand.
In cases of sickness the
early settlers depended mostly on herb teas. These were used for many
ailments. Herbs were gathered in the summer for medicinal purposes. For
tiny infants a tea of catnip, flowers and leaves was used. This was
also used for older children in cases of summer complaints, cramps, for
malarial fevers, or the three day-ague. Raw onions with raw cucumbers
in vinegar on bread and butter was used for colds. Elderberry blossom
tea was considered good for colds. For a baby's cold, an application of
goose greese and a bit of kerosene mixed together was applied to the
chest and then covered with a woolen cloth. Also some of the goose
greese mixture was applied to the soles of the feet, then gently warmed
by the fire place and then put to bed on a warmed feather pillow.
Men frequently took generous
doses of whiskey for most common ailments. Wormwood on whiskey was used
for upset stomach, dysentary, suspected food poisoning and insect
bites. Balsam apple on whiskey was used for accidental wounds,
inflammation and also for old sores on man and animals.
Boils and carbuncles so
prevalent in those early days, were treated by soaking bread in a small
quantity of heated sweet milk. This was placed on a piece of muslin
with a generous sprinkling of elderberry or chamomile flowers added,
placed on the boil as hot as could be borne and kept warm. This
poultice was changed every hour until the boil broke open.
To call a doctor in those
days meant going by horseback to the nearest town to get some medicine
or on occasion wait until the doctor came in from his calls and then
maybe wait until he made a still more urgent call that had come in
earlier. If necessary, he would accompany the caller to the sick person.
For sore throat, bread with
a blue greenish mold would be soaked in warm wtaer, then drained and
the water used as a gargle. Its effect was like penicillin.
In the days of the early
settlers a few hives of bees were kept for the honey they produced.
Honey was used to ease sore throat and to put on wounds. It was also
used as a sweetener for cooked fruits and as a spread on bread.
A few geese were usually
kept on the farm to fill the many feather beds that were needed -
usually two for each bed in winter - one to sleep on and one to use as
a cover. Two or three pounds of the small fine feathers were needed for
one feather cover. These feathers were also used to fill pillows.
Sheep also played quite a
role in the family needs. They produced the wool to spin into yarn for
knitting stockings. The finer grades were taken to the woolen mills to
be made into cloth for men's everyday shirts, children's dresses, etc.
Lambs, not needed for
replacements, were slaughtered for meat in early winter. The pelts were
salt cured and dried, then used as covers on seats of farm implements
and wagons. The large pelts were used over the knees when driving in
winter. Sheep tallow having great healing qualities, was much used for
sore hands during corn husking season and wood cutting time, and on
sores of farm animals. Also on sore nipples of nursing mothers. This
tallow was also applied on leather boots making the leather very
pliable and keeping it soft.
New-Comers
Compiled by Rachel Meyer
Travelers endured many hardships to reach
their destination. The pioneers were isolated on their farms which were
often a distance of a few miles from any other families. Thus, tired
travelers were never turned away when they approached a pioneer's cabin
toward evening. They always found a welcome, even though there might
already be a guest for every puncheon or bedstead. There was still
"room for one more," and a wider circle would be made for the new-comer
at the large fire. If the new-comer was in search of land, he was
doubly welcome. His host would volunteer to show him all the
"first-rate claims in this neck of the woods," going with him for days,
showing the corners and advantages of every "Congress tract" within a
dozen miles of his cabin.
To his neighbors the pioneer was equally
liberal. If a deer was killed, the choicest bits were sent to his
nearest neighbor, a half-dozen miles away, perhaps. When a "shoat" was
butchered, the same custom prevailed.
If a new-comer came in too late for
"cropping," the neighbors would supply his table with just the same
luxuries they themselves enjoyed throughout the first winter, and in as
liberal quantity, until a crop could be raised. Once small communities
were established, the residents would erect a large cabin near town to
house the new-comers until they could build a house of their own. When
a new-comer had located his claim, the neighbors for miles around would
assemble at the site of his proposed cabin and aid him in "gittin" it
up. One group would cut down the trees with axes and hew (square up)
the logs; another with teams would haul the logs to the ground; another
party would "raise" the cabin; while several of the old men would "rive
the clapboards" for the roof (splitting off thicknesses of logs).
By night the little forest home would be
built, mudded and ready for a "house-warming," which was the dedication
of the house. Music, dancing and festivity would be enjoyed at full
height. The next day the new arrival would be as well prepared as his
neighbors.
The
Strong Survive
Compiled by Rachel Meyer
Money was little known and seldom seen among
the earlier settlers. There was little use for it. They could transact
all their business about as well without it, on the "barter" system,
wherein great ingenuity was sometimes displayed. When it failed in any
instance, long credits were established by the tradesmen and
shopkeepers for
the convenience of the citizens.
However, for property taxes and postage
neither the barter nor the credit system would answer, and often
letters were delayed a long time in the post office for the want of the
twenty-five cents demanded by the Government to receive it. With all
this high price on postage, by the way, the letter had not been
transported 500 miles in a day or two. It had probably been weeks on
the route via a lone horseman. The long-awaited news was delivered at
the pioneer's postoffice, several miles from his cabin, only once every
week or two.
Animal pelts were used to purchase
necessities. Peltries, as they were called, were the item most easily
traded and it came to be custom to estimate the value of everything in
peltries. A length of calico was worth a certain number of peltries.
Even some tax collectors and postmasters were known to take peltries
and exchange them for the money required by the Government.
The first settlers in Ohio were generally from
the east with it's "modern ways." Not knowing what to expect when they
first came into the wilderness, some assumed that their hard struggle
would be principally over after the first year. Looking for "easier
times next year" for many years before realizing them, caused much
disappointment. The easier times came in so slyly as to be almost
imperceptible. The lot of the pioneer was a hard life. The sturdy
pioneer learned to bear hardships, deprivation and hard living. As the
ability to make money was not great, they learned to be satisfied in an
atmostphere of hardship and compensated with good, social, friendly
feeling among their neighbors. "Being right down neighborly" took on a
more important meaning.
Among the early settlers who came to the
frontier were many who, accustomed to the advantages of an older
civilization, to churches, schools and society, became homesick and
dissatisfied. Their enthusiasm would remain perhaps one summer and by
the end of the second growing season, they felt forlorn and defeated.
Selling their claim with its improvements, they would return to the
older States, spreading reports of the hardships endured by the
settlers here and the disadvantages which they had found in the
frontier. Often it was the women who were the most unhappy, and would
coax her pioneer husband to return to civilization.
The slight improvements they had made were sold
to families of sterner conviction, who were able to surround themselves
more quickly with the necessities of life. Those who returned east
spread unfavorable reports which deterred weaklings from coming. The
families who stayed and were willing to endure the deprivations
belonged to a different guild. They were heroes every one -- men and
women to whom hardships were things to be overcome. Their work and
simple pleasure were welcomed for the sake of posterity, and they never
shrank from their duty. Yes, the strong survived!
This is part of Company L 2nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry in 1898. The unit
was mostly from Wapakoneta. The lad standing on the far right holding
the horse is the grandfather of Joe Weber, Joseph HERBST. Joe would
love to know who the others are! Please e-mail Joe if you can
identify any others. Joe will keep us all up to date.
The Daily News Wapakoneta, Ohio Aug 22 19__(No year on Clipping)
GROUP OF WAPAKONETA CAMP U.S.W.V. CAMP
Preparing to attend the State Convention
Which will be held at Findley August 27-29 - Camp includes Department
Officers.
Among the many organizations of this city that exist with honor to
themselves and to Wapakoneta, is the local camp of the United Spanish
War Veterans.
While the members of this organization is a part of old Company L,
which left here to engage in the Spanish American War, there are
members who served in other organizations as well as members who
served in other branches of the service.
Wapakoneta Camp, No. 22, United Spanish War Veterans, was chartered
May 27, 1902, as Elmer E. Mayer Camp, No. 267, Spanish American War
Veterans. On July 31, 1903, this camp was, as a whole, taken in the
Spanish War Veterans as Wapakoneta Command, No. 204. Under the
Amalgamation Agreement of April 18, 1904, it became a Camp of the
United Spanish War Veterans. The past commanders of the Camp are John
G. Hoegner, Roy E. Layton and Dr. C.L. Mueller, who is now serving as
Department Commander.
The officers of the camp are:
Commander, Guido F. Franke.
Senior Vice Commander, Henry W. Wentz.
Junior Vice Commander, Albert J. Miller
Officer of the Day, Lawrence Sexton, Jr.
Officer of the Guard, James Shockey
Chaplain, Earl McMannamy
Adjutant, George Bitler
Quartermaster, George W. Hassenter
The camp now has a membership of 44 and is steadily growing. The
members are:
Harry Agenbroad, Henry G. Agenbroad, Louis A. Agenbroad, Isaac W.
Anderson, Charles O. Brokaw, George Bitler, Elard Botkin, Charles E.
Chenowith, Frank M. Clark, Nathaniel Crider, Ferd C. Dearbaugh,
William Dicks, Guido F. Franke, Ola Foster, William H. Fisher, David
Gilmore, Samuel Howell, George W. Hassenter, John G. Hoegner, Harry
Hale, Joseph Herbst, William L. Heitman, William Jasperson, Albert J.
Koch, Conrad Kirchner, Bert E. Kerst, Roy E. Layton, William F.
Leffingwell, Marion Lucas, C.L. Mueller, Albert J. Miller, Ferd C.
Miller, Carl Means, Earl McMannamy, William Peckham, Frank Powell,
E.L. Sheffler, Lawrence Sexton Jr, James Shockey, Franklin F. Smith,
Samuel Smith, Grover Winemiller, Henry Wentz, Ferd A. Wentz.
The organization in Ohio has recently been given an impetus by the
publication of an official roster by Department Commander, Dr.
C.L. Mueller, of this city. This roster is the first published in
the country and has been the subject of much favorable comment. The
illustration herewith presented is embodied in the roster, which
contain numerous illustrations and 1677 names.
_________
Note: Company L was part of the 2nd Regiment, Ohio Volunter Infantry.
The unit did not leave the United States and did not see combat. The
Company was mustered in May 10, 1898 at Columbus Ohio, and mustered
out Feb 10, 1899 at Macon, Ga. (Source - Service record of Pvt. Joseph
Herbst, Co.L 2nd OVI [Nat'l Archives]). Joseph F. Weber
Return to the Auglaize County GENWEB page.
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