OHIO STATEWIDE FILES OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List *********************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. *********************************************************************** OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest Volume 99 : Issue 696 Today's Topics: #1 Abbot's History of Ohio Chapter 12 ["Maggie Stewart" To: OH-FOOTSTEPS-L@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <02b501bf0af1$a1b73dc0$0300a8c0@local.net> Subject: Abbot's History of Ohio Chapter 12b Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Kay L. Mason kkmason@shianet.org HISTORY: Chapter 12b (Abbott, John S. C., 1875) for united effort, produced in him habitual charity, almost unknown in these days of luxury. We have now but little time left to think of good and still less to practice it." (American Pioneers, Vol. II, p. 449) The spot chosen by our settlers was covered with forest, principally beech, with a sprinkling of elm and ash. Although the land was very rich, the roots of the beech were very troublesome in the endeavor to cultivate it. Turnips they scraped and used wth hickory nuts as fruit, and the tim- othy grass which they sowed produced a good crop. Corn meal made into mush, with milk, formed a staple article of food. But there was a serious trouble in getting corn in meal. Every expedient was resorted to; sometimes pound- ing, sometimes grating it. The hard, laborious work of the hand-mill was welcomed, and when a mill turned by a horse was invented they were indeed happy. Salt at five dollars a bushel was a luxury not often used. Candles were never seen in these rude log cabins, and the poor substitute of shelly hickory, only served to make darkness visible. The raising of flax soon became a very important branch of industry as the strong virgin soil could bear the drain caused by this plant. Schools were infrequent in the new settlements, but we question if the boys of Ohio then did not apply their minds as vigorously to the study of books when they had the opportunity, as they had to the hard work of the pioneer's life, in the earliest days. One of them writes in his memorandum book, "I have in the last three days calculated, plotted, and written down fourteen pages of Gibson's Conveying, besided plowing ten acres of corn. This I counted good work." -------------------------------- End of OH-FOOTSTEPS-D Digest V99 Issue #696 *******************************************