Every country has its great
warriors; its skilled
scientists; its great
states-men; its modern
inventors, but there is but one
generation of pioneers.
The history of that generation
possesses a value which to
future generations cannot be
measured by the standard of
money, time or even by
imagination. Although we
can imagine, or more
specifically, try to stretch our
imagination so that we can see
the pioneer with all his earthly
possessions, including family,
if he had one, struggling along
through miles of unbroken
forests, following, not a paved
street, but an Indian trail,
marked only by the scarcity of
timber, and the monotony now and
then broken by the wierd
cry of some wild animal, or the
war whoop of some Indian on the
warpath, or, more proper, on a
drunken spree. Day after
day they travel toward their
destination; at night their only
shelter is the dense forest.
They push forward with untiring
efforts, and at last arrive at
the chosen spot, where together
they enter the trials and
dangers so common in a wild and
unbroken forest. They
encamp, begin to survey the
surroundings, and then conclude
that they see no mansion to
enter, no field to cultivate, no
mills to grind their corn and
wheat, if they had it.
What do they? They apply
their sturdy energy to the
destruction of the towering
timber and impenetrable thickets
of brush. The timber is
soon carved into a log cabin;
the brush and the bark of the
trees form the roof. The
chimney constructed of brushes
or small logs laid up so as to
form a hollow structure against
the outside of the cabin.
A hole cut through the cabin at
this point served as a
fire-place. The sticks
composing the chimney were
cemented together with mortar to
prevent them from catching fire.
An opening was chopped in one
side of the cabin for a doorway,
and any old thing was
constructed for a door.
A small opening in the end of the cabin formed the
window, sometimes without sash
or glass. The floor was
made of pieces of timber split
from trees about eighteen inches
in diameter and hewed smooth
with the broad-ax. The
beds were constructed by
erecting a forked stick set in
the floor and supporting two
poles, the other ends of which
rested on the logs at the end
and side of the cabin.
Stools, tables, shelves and all
household furniture were
constructed on the same plan.
Next, a small patch must be
cleared to raise some corn.
In those days corn bread was the
main food in the bread
line. Wheat bread would have
been considered a luxury.
The brush for a considerable
distance, owing to the size of
field intended, would be cut
down and piled, the trees
girdled, and the surface swept
by fire. In this way ten
or fifteen acres could be
cleared in a short
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time. Probably now and
then the monotony of this
tiresome work would be broken by
a deer or bear crossing in its
usual path to some unknown
destination, and it in return
would have its monotonous trip
disturbed by a leaden ball from
the gun of the new trespasser,
which resulted in a fine boiled
venison or bear meat supper for
the weary workers. Thus on
and on in this manner the
struggles and dangers which the
early pioneer had undergone
still continued until the
gradual approach of higher
civilization; the broad
extensions of cleared fields ;
the on-coming of more farmers ;
the starting of small
settlements; the encouragement
of manufacturers, merchants and
all classes of business
operations, which has caused the
pioneer life of that day to pass
into a phase of life that has
now departed from this state
forever.
Ninety years ago there was not a single white family
living in Hancock county.
Could those who have seen this
county as it now is only borrow
the eyes of the early pioneer,
who helped to make the
transformation, in place of
smiling fields, comfortable
homes and pleasant driveways,
naught but a vast wilderness,
filled with savage beasts and
occasionally a savage red man
would greet their sight.
The present generation can form
no just conception of the
trials, endless privations and
innumerable sacrifices to which
the early settlers heroically
submitted. They were not
seeking fortunes or fame; the
one prevailing intention was to
make a home for their loving
wife and innocent children, and
from that one motive in view we
now behold the splendid
structure of that civilization
we see all around us.
The pioneers of Hancock county, with few exceptions,
have all passed to that beyond,
where trials, persecutions and
privations are unknown, and it
remains for their descendants
and future generations to keep
ever before them the
recollections of such names and
events as have come down to them
from their early ancestors, for
the remembrance of their deeds
deserves to be “written in
characters of living light upon
the firmament, there to endure
as radiant as if every letter
was traced in shining stars."
The first settlers of Hancock county came not to enjoy
a life of idleness and ease.
They doubtless admired the
unveiled scene that met their
gaze, the vernal green forest
and the unlimited works of
nature; they could look forward
with happy anticipation to the
lives they were to lead in the
midst of all this beauty, and to
the rich reward that would be
theirs from the cultivation of
the fertile soil. The
dangers to which they were
exposed were somewhat serious.
The Indians could not be trusted
out of sight, and the many
stories of their depredations in
the earlier eastern settlements
made the pioneers of Hancock
county apprehensive of trouble.
The wild animals were a cause of
dread and a source of annoyance.
In fact, among the lovely
surroundings of those early days
there was a sense of loneliness
that could not be dispelled.
The constant feeling of isolation caused many stout
hearts to turn back to the old
stamping ground from which they
came, where existed the comforts
of life, the companionship of
friends and the sociability of
neighbors. But to those
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who held out in the struggle for
existence in this newly settled
country the sense of loneliness
and isolation was dispelled as
the settlements increased;
social gatherings became more
numerous and undoubtedly more
enjoyable, and, step by step,
life in all its numerous phases
took on a new and more glorious
appearance, until today we are
at the very height of
civilization, in all its
numerous classes, and the
present generation becomes the
possessor of all the
advancements produced through
the privations and enduring
sacrifices of our early
pioneers. They suffered
for our sake, just as our
Christ suffered the pangs of
death on the cross that we might
live.
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