Having attended the annual Jewell County Threshing Bee and Antique Tractor Show last weekend and seeing the demonstrations of the way things were done years ago, made me realize again how much time and labor went into work that was done back then.
Some of the things noticed were the way rope was made mostly by hand, and the labor it took to place the logs just right on the saw mill so the blade could cut them. There was a blacksmith that worked hard forging the metal into needed tools and in mending wagon wheels. Grinding of wheat was mostly done by hand, and of course all the labor and machines it took to thresh wheat.
Seeing the way things were done in the past makes us appreciate how easy we have it today. What was done mostly labor-wise back then is now done with modern equipment that is often computer operated. We learn from our past and our history.
My husband and I enjoy reading and learning about history, including local and family history. A story we read was about the Schoen family traveling from Missouri for their new life of the plains of Smith County, Kansas, in 1871 as told by a daughter of the Schoens. “The trip over land by covered wagon loaded with provisions and our sole belongings required three weeks time with Mother doing most of the driving with a three month old baby in her arms and father plodding behind on foot lending encouragement to the cows which had not previously been taught to lead. Immediately on arrival in early November, Father started construction of a home, made from cottonwood logs, chinked with mud. The weather was turning cold, and it was necessary to thaw out the mud before it could be worked and placed between the logs. There being no trowel available, Father chinked up the cracks with his bare hands and in later years the kids could still see the fingerprints of his hands in the dried mud. It was a man’s world and Mother did not see another woman until Christmas Day when an early settler and family from Smith Center drove over and spent Christmas Day with us folks in the newly constructed, one room log home with loft sleeping accommodations. After the home was completed, visitors who came too frequently were wandering groups of Indians, usually asking for food and clothing. In the early spring of 1872, Father broke out his first land with a breaking plow which he had tied along the side of the wagon. He used oxen for this tough job of turning over the new sod. The land was good and the first corn crop was planted by means of a hand planter.”
The family milked cows and skimmed the cream from crocks and gallon jars, and produced butter with a wooden churn. These produce items were sold to neighbors and nearby city people. The butter brought 10 cents a pound. For entertainment, the families that had settled near by visited each other. Washing was done by hand and this duty often took the whole day. Mrs. Schoen’s first luxury reported was receiving a set of dishes purchased as a gift for five dollars, by her father who lived in Missouri. The dishes were brought in a milk pail and delivered by horseback.
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