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THE humble log cabin of a century ago was a humble
home indeed, yet it surpassed in one respect many a millionaire's
mansion today. Though a single room housed a big family -
sometimes more than one - there was always room for the stranger,
the new settler or the traveler. The genuine hospitality of
the early settler has been the theme of many a story.
The pioneer had little, but that little he generously shared with
one who had less. If necessary, he was willing to give all he
had. It was nothing to travel mile after mile through
bottomless mud and swollen streams to see a sick neighbor. No
distance was too far if some one needed help. When the
newcomer arrived everybody dropped his own affairs and went to
work to "raise" a cabin for him. To have charged a
fee for a night's lodging would have been the height of impropriety
and would not have been tolerated. To have refused to lend a
tool would have aroused the whole neighborhood to resentment.
A man's word was as good as his bond. Implicit confidence in
one another prevailed. No matter what sacrifice was required a
man met any promise he had made. It was considered a
reflection on one's integrity if one were asked to give a note in
promise of payment. FIGHTING COMMON
A man's character was not to be assailed lightly in those days.
The pioneer was quick to resent a real or imaginary wrong.
Slander cases were quit common. A man was always ready for a
fight. Life on the frontier was not only a battle with nature,
but often a battle with fists with the other fellow.
 The word "liar" always brought
on a fight. It was a signal to go. Though fighting was a
violation of the law, the authorities winked at it. A justice
of the peace once said: "Boys, if you must fight, fight where
I can't see you. If I see you fighting I will have to arrest
and fine you. But when a fight did occur, it settled
the difficulty. The man who was beaten acknowledged it.
The combatants shook hands and were friends again. No one lay
in a dark alley with a blackjack waiting for his enemy. He
settled the matter in the broad, open light of day, with plenty of
witnesses. A good fight always enlivened any occasion.
A fight was not always the result of a quarrel. If a man had a
reputation for being the "best" man he had to defend that
reputation. Two good men would go out of their way to meet
each other and settle the question as to who was the better man.
Did it matter that a fellow was all bruised up and bleeding when he
got through? No, no! His honor was at stake!
AMUSEMENTS So when his corn and wheat and flax were harvested, he
had little to do but hunt and fish. To vary the entertainment,
there were horse races, shooting matches, deer hunts, fix and wolf
chases, ax throwing exhibitions, jumping and wrestling matches,
dancing, and trials of strength. Ax throwing was somewhat
dangerous, but it proved one's skill. A small area would be
marked on a tree, and the aim of each thrower was to stick the ax
blade inside that area. The horse racing became popular at the
mills, while the men were waiting their turn to have their corn
ground. The racing horses were the common farm stock, and cows
and other animals were wagered on the outcome of the races.
Often "roughhouses" resulted, for whisky was drunk freely.
Some of the earliest mills in Macon county were King's mill on
Stevens creek, Allen's mill on the Sangamon, the Davis mill on Big
Creek, and the Robert Smith and Whitley mills southwest of Decatur.
AN OLD MILL
This picture of the old John Morrison mill on Salt Creek, in Dewitt
county, is typical of mills in early Macon County. In
those days a popular fellow was the man who could play the fiddle.
The fiddle was the only kind of musical instrument to be had, and
the fiddler was always sure of an invitation to every party.
Most of the fiddlers of the early day were unable to play by note,
but they produced the music, and that was all that was necessary.
Being in a position to hear much gossip, the fiddler usually was a
veritable news gatherer - and dispenser also. Singing schools,
house raisings, corn shuckings - any of the occasions that served to
bring the people together - furnished the social life. Keeping the
fireplace supplied with the wood was practically the only work to be
done in the winter time. The fire was never allowed to die out
winter or summer. There were no matches then, and if the fire
died out it was necessary to go to neighbors for live coals to
rekindle it. The pioneer was skilled in the use of the ax.
With it he could build his house, without nails, screws or locks.
Cabins were usually built at the edge of the timber, sites where
water and wood were plentiful being chosen. No one then was so
wild as to dream that some day the prairie would be inhabited.
The most that was claimed was that farms would extend a short
distance out from the timber. Prairie land would be forever
wild and used for grazing purposes only. The prairies were
submerged with water a good part of the year. Horses and
cattle mired on ground that is now the best farming land in the
county. There were no plows suitable to break the tough
prairie sod. At first there were no fences, and animals roamed at
will. When fences did come, they were built to keep the stock
out, instead of keeping it in. This was according to a
decision of the Supreme court, and it was a big drawback to the
farmers. To build and keep in repair the fences needed to
protect his crop, cost the farmer more than the land itself. Money
was so scarce that sometimes a letter lay unclaimed for weeks
because of lack of cash to pay the postage on it. A man could
haul wheat by wagon to Chicago, Springfield or St. Louis and get for
a bushel only half enough to buy a yard of calico.
PLENTY TO EAT One thing the pioneer usually had in plenty, and
that was something to eat. Deer, bear, turkeys, ducks, quail,
squirrels, rabbits, prairie chickens abounded. The river
contained plenty of fish. Each settler had his truck patch,
where he grew corn and other vegetables. Hogs and cattle were
raised. Greens were to be had for the picking. Johnny
cake and corn pone, and mush and milk, added to the pioneer's diet.
Maple sugar and honey were plentiful, and in season there were wild
fruits. One can easily imagine the pioneer's appetite. For
kitchen ware the earliest comers had only vessels called "noggens,"
hollowed out of wood. Some had tin and pewter ware. The
drinking cup usually was a gourd. The Dutch oven, kettle and
frying pan were necessities. Furniture was home made. If an
extra bed were needed, a few poles were quickly secured, and an ax
and an augur were all the implements necessary to fashion them
together properly. Carding and spinning of flax and wool, weaving
it into cloth and then making it into clothes was one of the chief
duties of the women. Every cabin had its spinning wheel and
loom. The women made their own soap with lye made from wood
ashes, and their own starch from wheat bran. THE
"SHAKES" One of the worst hardships of the early settlers was the
annual recurrence of the malaria, a disease which could not be
avoided in this undrained swampy land.1 It was
called by various names, the ague, chills and fever, and the
"Illinois shakes." It spared no one and was intensely severe.
Often entire families would be ill at one time. Many a prospective
settler, after coming to Illinois - lured by glowing accounts of the
land - packed up his belongings and left after one siege of "the
shakes." THE DEEP SNOW There were two memorable
events in the lives of the early citizens of central Illinois, which
became milestones in reckoning dates. The first was the deep
snow in the winter of 1830-31. For years afterwards dates were
mentioned as "before or after the deep snow." Snow began falling
in the early winter and continued for months, each downfall being
succeeded by heavy sleet which formed a crust of ice. Finally
the snow became so deep that tops of fences could not be seen, and
one could drive right over them.2 People were housed up
for weeks, and there was much suffering, though no loss of life.
Many wild animals and game perished, however. Deer, caught in
the snow, could be killed without the aid of guns. Game was
scarce for years afterward. SUDDEN FREEZE Then in
January, 1836, occurred the "sudden freeze," which also caused
intense suffering. The freeze came about 4 o'clock in the
afternoon of a rainy day. Animals out in the field, and
chickens, geese, ducks, were caught in ice, the water freezing about
their feet. Streams and ponds were stretches of ice. It
was so cold that it was said that boiling water thrown into the air
came down as particles of ice. In other parts of the state several
lives were lost during the sudden freeze. People caught out on
the prairie and unable to find shelter froze to death. Dr.
Thomas H. Read of Decatur, on his way to see a patient, almost lost
his life in that way. Another event of interest was the heavy
rainfall in 1835, which resulted in raising the Sangamon higher than
it had ever been know before. The water drained off slowly.
But all these hardships were endured by the pioneers, and they
stayed. They were the ones who made the prairie a fit place to
live, and to them is due the honor and respect and admiration of the
succeeding generations who have reaped the benefits.
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1 Quinine was found
in the saddlebags of every doctor of the early day. It was
given for "The Shakes". Many years the county had to suffer
from this disease. It did not disappear until the general
system of farm drainage took the water off the prairies. Then
the farmers weren't thinking of waging war against the disease when
they started the drainage systems, but were undertaking it with the
idea of increased production of their farms. It served both
purposes, however. The mosquitoes disappeared, malaria was
known no more, and the farm land was greatly improved.
2 Nathaniel Brown, the first blacksmith in Friend's creek
township, came to Illinois from Tennessee in 1830, just after the
snow fell. He moved into a house he bought, and the man who
sold it told him it was enclosed by a seven-rail fence. The
purchaser was unable to get a sight of that fence until the
following spring, when the snow melted.
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