Ray County MO Archives History .....HOG KILLING AT THE JACKSON HOME IN RAY COUNTY 

HOG KILLING AT THE JACKSON HOME IN RAY COUNTY

Narrator:  Mrs. Malvina Leabo, 76

     Mrs. Leabo was the daughter of Jacob Jackson in Ray county.  He had a 
family of 16 children, and this must be remembered in this story.  They worked 
hard and ate meat three times a day.  They always killed at least 12 hogs and 
a steer.  When they slaughtered, they always killed 7 or 8 hogs at once.  
Their smoke house was never empty.  Butchering day was one of the big work 
days of the year, and yet the children had a good time.  They waited for 
freezing weather before choosing hog killing day.  Preparations had been made 
for some time in gathering wood for bon fires to boil the water.  They always 
kept the butchering poles, unless something unusual happened.  At last, good 
butchering weather came, and the men arose very very early to get the fires 
started to heat the big kettles of water.  The hogs were killed by a blow of 
an ax and thrown into the "scalding barrel," a barrel extra large and kept 
just for this purpose.  Their bodies were moved about so that all parts would 
get scalded.  When the hog hairs came out easily, the hog carcass was removed 
from the barrel and suspended head down on the hog poles.  This frame was of 
two poles in the ground connected at the top by a crossbeam.  When the white 
hog hung up on this frame, it was rather ghastly.  After getting the hogs up 
on the pole, the farmers would go to his chores, and having fed his stock, he 
went back to the hog matter.
     By now the bodies were cooled and ready to cut up.  The fat was cut off 
for Mr. Jackson to carry out to the kettle.  Rendering the lard was Mrs. 
Jackson's work.  All day long, they were cutting up the pieces meant for the 
sausage and by night it was ready for the sausage mill.  Then the children's 
work began and they turned the mill that night.  They flavored it with red 
pepper and sage, both grown in their back yards.  Sometimes Mrs. Jackson would 
make small bags, about like salt sacks, and stuff them with salted sausage.  
Then these would be put out doors under clover and frozen.  In a day or two, 
they would take it out of the sack and slice it off like bread.  Another way 
to put away sausage was to wrap it in corn shucks and tie the ends.  It would 
keep a long time that way.  The hams and shoulders were salted down and put in 
the smoke house.  The next February, Mr. Jackson would smoke them in hickory 
chips which was the best for the smoke flavor.  They never had any meat spoil 
on them and they never lost a smoke house except once when the meat supply was 
lost when the smoke house was struck by lightning.
     Of course, the first day the hog's feet were cleaned, also the parts for 
tripe and head cheese, for they had to save everything which was fit to eat.
     Mrs. Jackson used to peel and cut up about 30 big pumpkins in a big 
kettle and boil it out doors, when done, it was sweetened with sugar and make 
pumpkin butter, excellent to use on salt meats.  She used to make a ten or 
eight gallon jar full of it every fall.  Then she made her twenty gallon keg 
full of sweet pickles and that was another meat relish.
     Interview  1935.


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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Karen Walker mailto:khw4@yahoo.com
September 4, 2008

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