CONTENTS—Clothing—Domestic and Farming Implements—Style of Dress
eighty years ago—Clothing of the Refugees—Disbanded Soldiers—No
Fresh Supply—Indian Garments of Skin—Deerskin Pants—Petticoats—Bed
Coverings—Cultivating Flax—Sheep—Home-made Clothes—Rude
Implements—Fulling—French Mode—Lindsay Woolsey—The Spinning-wheel—
Industry—Young men Selecting Wives—Bees—Marriage Portion—Every
Farmer his own Tanner and Shoemaker—Fashions—How odd hours were
spent—Home-made Shoes—What Blankets were made of—Primitive
Bedstead—Nakedness—Bridal Apparel—No Saddles—Kingston and Newark—
Little Money—Bartering—Merchants from Albany—Unable to buy—Credit
with Merchants—The Results—Itinerant Mechanics—Americans—Become
Canadians—An old Stone-mason—Wooden Dishes—Making Spoons—Other
Hardships—Indians Friendly—Effects of Alcohol upon the
Mississaugas—Groundless Panic—Drunken Indians—Women, defending
Themselves—An erroneous Statement about Indian Massacre in
“Dominion Monthly Magazine”—Statement of an Old Settler, Sherwood—
Wild Beasts—Few Fire-arms—Narrow Escapes—Depredations at Night—
Destroying Stock—An Act of Parliament—“A Traveller’s” Statement—
The Day of Small Things—Settlers Contented—The Extent of their
Ambition—Reward of Industry—Population in 1808—Importations—Money—
The Youth.
CLOTHING—FURNITURE—DOMESTIC AND FARMING IMPLEMENTS.
The style of clothing worn by the refugees and disbanded soldiers was
such as prevailed eighty years ago in England. A certain difference, no
doubt, existed between the English and the Colonists, yet mainly the
style was the same. Among the first settlers upon the bay were those who
had fetched with them, and wore, at least occasionally, garments of
fashionable cut and appointments. Tight knee-breeches and silver buckles
would decorate the bodies of some, who had in other days mixed in the
fashionable throng, perhaps luxuriated in the gay city of New York,
where the presence of British soldiers always gave life and gaiety.
Indeed some of the inhabitants had been commissioned officers in the
regular army. Dr. Dougall, who had been in the navy, and who had settled
in the sixth Township, is remembered as a wearer of “tights” and silver
buckles. Also, Major VanAlstine wore this elegant attire, and the
M’Leans, of Kingston. Those who left their homes hurriedly during the
course of the war, and fled to Lower Canada and the several British
Forts, brought only what was upon their backs. Those who came more
leisurely might have a little more; but the distance to travel on foot
would deter from undertaking to bring more than supplies of food. The
disbanded soldiers had no more than what belongs to a soldier’s kit, and
no doubt the close of the war left many of them with well worn garments.
A few years of exposure to the wear and tear of pioneer life would quite
destroy the best supplied wardrobe, however carefully husbanded, or
ingeniously mended by the anxious wife. To replace the clothing was far
from an easy matter to the settlers, many of whom had no money,
certainly no time for a long journey to Montreal or Albany. After a few
years, Kingston became a place of trade, but the supply of clothing was
scant and dear, placing it beyond the reach of mostly all. The result
was that the vast majority of the inhabitants had to look to the
production of their lands wherewith to cover the nakedness of their
families. Those living up the bay continued to want for clothing for a
longer time, being unable to exchange with the merchants of Kingston,
until peddlers began to visit the more remote settlers.
The faded garments, patched until the original material could no longer
be distinguished, ultimately succumbed to the effects of time and labor.
The Indians, who as a general thing were friendly and kind, when they
visited the settlement, gave to the settlers the idea of manufacturing
garments out of deer skin. They, now and then exchanged skins for
articles the settlers could part with, and taught them how to prepare
the fresh pelt so as to make it pliable. The process consisted in
removing the hair and then working the hide by hand with the brains of
some animal, until it was soft and white. Trowsers made of this material
were not only comfortable for winter, but very durable. A gentleman who
recently died in Sophiasburgh at an advanced age, remembered to have
worn a pair for twelve years, being repaired occasionally, and at the
end they were sold for two dollars and-a-half. Petticoats for women were
often made of the same material. Roger Bates says “My grandmother made
all sorts of useful dresses with these skins, which were most
comfortable for a country life, and for going through the bush, could
not be torn by the branches.” Also, moccasins were procured from the
buckskin, and some had enough deer-skin to make covering for beds. But
deer-skin was not sufficiently abundant to give covering to all, such as
it was; and, certain clothing was required, for which it was unfit. Thus
left to their own resources, the settlers commenced at an early period
to cultivate flax, and as soon as possible to procure sheep. For many
years almost every family made their various garments, for both sexes,
of the coarse linen made from the flax, and cloth from wool raised at
home and carded by hand. Preparing the flax for weaving, as well as
spinning were done by hand, with inferior implements rudely made. But in
later years, occasionally spinning wheels and looms were brought in by
settlers. There were no fulling mills to complete the fabric. Even the
mode adopted then, in Lower Canada, was not practised, which was as
follows: A meeting of young folks, similar to a bee, was held from house
to house, at which both sexes took part. The cloth to be fulled was
placed in large tubs, and bare-legged youths would step in and with much
amusement dance the fulling done. In Upper Canada, both high and low
were glad to be able to don the home-made linen, and the linsey-woolsey
petticoat.
* * * * *
“The growth of flax was much attended to as soon as lands were cleared
and put in order.” “Then spinning-wheels were all the go, and home-made
linen, the pride of all families, manufactured substantial articles that
would last a lifetime.” The young men of industry would look for the
spinning-wheel and loom before selecting a wife. “A young farmer would
often be astonished to find on his marriage that his fair partner had
got a good supply of linen for her marriage portion. I have known as
much as sixty yards spun and manufactured at one bee or gathering.”—
_Clark_.
When the skins of sheep, and of calves and beef become available, every
farmer became his own tanner, and dressed his leather; and then his own
shoemaker. Fashions did not change, except as the continued practice of
making for an increasing family, gave the maker ability to make
something more like a boot than a moccasin. Rainy days, and the nights,
were spent in doing such kind of work, not by candle light, but by the
hearth fire. It was at the same time that an axe-helve, a wooden plow, a
reaping cradle, a wooden fork, &c., were made. But many a child, whose
grand-children are now occupying positions of wealth and influence,
stayed in the log cabin the winter through, because he had nothing with
which to protect his feet from the snow. The writer’s father was not a
shoemaker by trade; but he remembers when a boy to have worn shoes made
by him. They were not conspicuous for their beauty, but it was thought
by the wearer they would last forever; within his recollection there was
not a shoemaker in Thurlow.
* * * * *
Much ingenuity was displayed in making clothes and blankets. What was
called the “Kearsy” blanket was made at an early date; the writer has
seen the first one said to have been manufactured in Upper Canada,
certainly the first on the Bay Quinté. It is yet in use and belongs to
one, nearly one hundred years of age, who is the daughter of the maker,
whom we remember to have seen when a boy, who, although then in the sear
and yellow leaf, was as tall and erect as if untold hardships had not
crowned her life. Within fifteen miles of Belleville, across the Bay,
was a log cabin, the occupants of which had for their first blanket, one
made out of hair, picked out of the tanner’s vat, and a hemp-like weed
growing in the yard. The hair was first cleaned by whipping it; then it
was carded and worked up with the hemp, and then spun. It was afterward
doubled and twisted, and finally woven into a blanket. The individual
whose wife did this, and whose descendants are among the most wealthy
farmers, bought his farm for a horse. For many a day, they had no
furniture, not even a chair, and the bedstead was made out of two poles,
driven between the logs of the shanty; and basswood bark was twisted so
as to bind them substantially together. Clean straw upon this, was
really the only thing they had in the house. And so it was with very
many, the exceptions being, some half pay officers, who had brought a
table, or a chest of drawers. In 1790, the brother of an individual,
holding an important post in Kingston, was near the head of the bay,
staying at a house in a state of nakedness; in which condition his
brother writes, “he must remain until I am able to go up.” “I have
agreed to put him to trial with a carpenter to learn the trade,” he must
therefore have been a large boy.
It was not until the close of the last century, that wearing articles,
other than those made out of flax and wool, were to be obtained. A
calico dress was a decided luxury. The petticoat, and short gown of
linen, was more common. A long chintz dress to go to meeting, was the
height of many a damsel’s ambition, or a grogran dress and short
petticoat. As years passed away, and a grown up daughter was about to be
married, efforts would be made to array the bride in fitting costume.
Often a dress, worn by the mother in other days, amid other scenes,
which had been laid carefully away, was brought forth to light, and made
by suitable alterations to do renewed service, although the white had
assumed a yellow cast, and had lost its lustre.
As late as 1816, a farmer owning land in Sidney, and who died rich, made
in winter a journey to Kingston with flour, wearing nothing on his feet,
but a pair of shoes, and who had his trowsers strapped down to keep his
ankles warm. Leg boots took too much leather. It was many years before a
bridle and saddle were known, and then, but a few possessed such a
convenience. Bare-back, or on a deer skin was the primitive mode.
After the erection of Upper Canada into a separate province, both
Kingston and Newark, where there were always troops, and where articles
of clothing were to be purchased from a few, who had gone into the
mercantile business, exhibited a degree of comfort and even gaiety in
dress.
At the first there was but little money in circulation. But few of the
refugees, or disbanded soldiers had any when they entered the
wilderness. The government were constantly paying a certain sum to the
troops at Kingston and Newark, and likewise to the retired half pay
officers. The few who could command money, were placed in a position of
greater comfort, as soon as articles of provisions and merchandise, were
brought to the new settlement. Mainly, however, trading was carried on
by exchanging one commodity for another. Probably the first articles for
trade, was the ticket for grants of land in the back concessions, often
parted with so cheaply. The settlers required clothing, grain for
sowing, and stock; these wants in time, led to trade, two kinds of which
were introduced. One carried on by merchants established at Kingston,
the other by pedlars, Yankee pedlars, who would come from Albany with
their pack in a canoe or small batteau, and who plied their calling
along the bay shore from clearing to clearing. Both the merchant at
Kingston, who waited for his customers to come to him, and the pedlar
who sought customers, asked for their wares, only grain or any other
produce. But wheat was desired above all others. It was an event of no
little interest to the back woodsman’s family, when the pedlar’s canoe
or batteau came along, and halted before the log house, by the shore.
And, even when their circumstances would not permit them to buy, it was
a luxury to have a look at the things, which were so temptingly
displayed. The toil-worn farmer, with well patched trowsers, would turn
with an inward sigh from the piece of cloth, which although so much
wanted, could not be got. The wife looked longingly at those little
things, which would just suit baby. The grown up daughters gazed
wistfully, but hopelessly at the bright calico prints, more valuable, in
their eyes than the choicest silks are to their descendants to day. But
a calico dress was a thing not enjoyed, but by few, until it was bought
for the wedding dress. Frequently some articles of family use was
exchanged for goods, which were deemed of more use. The trade of
merchants at Kingston steadily increased; but not a cash business. A
credit system was initiated and carried on. Goods would be purchased
with an engagement to pay in wheat or potatoes, or something else, at a
certain time. Here and there along the bay were Indian fur traders.
They, also, began to exchange with the settlers. While this was a great
convenience, and gave immediate comfort to many a family, it, at the
same time, led to serious results with many. Disappointed in the return
of crops, or in some other way, the payment could not be made.
Promissory notes were given at interest; and, after a few years, suing
and seizing of stock was the result. Sometimes even the farm went to
satisfy the creditor. Unfortunately, there are too many such cases in
the records of the settlers of the bay. Not alone did pedlars come from
the States, to pick up the fruit of the industry, of those they had
driven away; but there were itinerant Yankee mechanics who would
occasionally come along, looking for a job. Carpenters, Masons, &c.,
after a few years, found much to do. We would not speak disparagingly of
these Americans, because they served a good turn in erecting buildings,
as houses, barns, &c. They also introduced many valuable articles of
husbandry and domestic use. And finally, many of them forsook their
republican government, and permanently settled under the King, and
became the best of subjects. Even in the first decade of the present
century, mechanics would go up and down the bay seeking work. For
instance, there was one Travers, a stone mason, who found employment
along the bay, and even up the lake. Of this we are informed by one of
his apprentices who is now upwards of eighty years old. (We make place
in our Review to state that John W. Maybee, referred to, aged 88, died
7th February, 1869.)
A hundred things enter into the list of what constitutes home comforts.
But spare, indeed, were the articles to be found upon the kitchen
shelves. Plain enough, was the spread table, at which the family
gathered morning, noon, and night. Many had but one or two dishes, often
of wood, rudely made out of basswood; and spoons of the same material.
Knives and forks in many families were unknown. A few families had
brought a very limited number of articles for eating, relics of other
days, but these were exceedingly scarce. The wooden spoon was the most
common table article with which to carry food to the mouth. By and by
the pedlar brought pewter spoons, and once in a while the settler
procured pewter and moulds and made spoons for himself.
VARIOUS HARDSHIPS.
Apart from the suffering arising from want of food, and clothing to
wear, and furniture to make the house comfortable, there were others of
more or less magnitude. It would naturally be expected that one of the
first dangers in entering a wilderness, would be from the Indians, whose
territory was being occupied. But in the main this evil was not added to
their other distress. The considerate and just policy pursued by the
British Government, left the Indians no cause of complaint, and they did
not at any time assume an hostile attitude toward the infant colony. But
that curse of the human race,—baneful curse to the Indians, alcohol,
came with the white man; and, too often, the unscrupulous trader, and
merchant would, not only sell the fire water to them, but rely upon its
intoxicating qualities, to consummate more excellent bargains for furs.
The evil thus inflicted upon the Indian, returned in some cases, upon
innocent pioneers. The Indians under the influence of liquor are
particularly savage and ungovernable; prone to exhibit their wild
nature. Thirsting for the liquor, they would sometimes enter dwellings,
when they knew the men were absent, and endeavour to intimidate the
women to give them rum. A few instances of alarm and actual danger, come
to us, among the bay settlers. At one time particularly, there arose a
wide spread alarm, (long remembered as the “Indian alarms,”) that the
Indians were, upon some fixed night, when the men were away to Kingston
mills, going to massacre the settlers. This arose from some remarks, let
fall by a half drunken Indian. A few of the settlers, did actually leave
their homes, and sought protection in a more thickly settled locality,
while active steps were taken to defend their homes against the Indians.
Mrs. Dempsey, of seventh township, gathered up what she could, and with
her children crossed in a canoe to the eighth township. On another
occasion, when her husband was absent, several half drunken Indians came
to the house, and one stepping up to where she sat, trembling with fear,
and with her little ones nestling close to her, drew his knife, and
cutting a piece from the palm of his hand, held the bleeding wound
before her face, crying out “look, look, Indian no fraid.” Then he
brandished his knife in the most menacing manner. She hearing the sound
of a passing team, got up and slowly walked backwards to the door,
looking the savage bravely in the eye all the time. Her husband had
opportunely arrived, in time to save his family, which he did by a free
use of the horse-whip. On another occasion, Mrs. D. saved her life and
the children from drunken Indians, by rushing up a ladder with them,
into the garret, which could only be reached by a small opening through
the ceiling, and then hauling the ladder up. The Indians endeavoured to
assist each other up, and through the entrance, but she having a knife
succeeded by cutting their fingers, when they attempted to get up, in
keeping them back. These hostile attempts were exceptions, and always
the result of intoxication.
Since writing the above, an article has been published in the _Dominion
Monthly Magazine_, in which it is stated that a family of settlers were
massacred by the Indians upon the banks of the St. Lawrence in 1795.
This statement is at variance with facts known to us, and with the
testimony of one who cannot be mistaken. His statement is as follows:
BROCKVILLE, 13th April, 1868.
MY DEAR SIR,—
I am in receipt of your note of this date, adverting to the
statement of the massacre of a family in Upper Canada, by the
Indians in 1795. I noticed the same statement in some paper I have
lately read, and at the time I thought it to be a mistake in the
date, or an entire fabrication. I am not aware of the least
hostility shewn by the Indians to any of the U. E. Loyalists since
1784, eleven years previous to date stated, and I do not believe a
syllable of it.
Yours truly,
ADIEL SHERWOOD.
Although the native Indians did not, as a general thing, alarm the
settler, there were wild beasts that did. For years the wolf, and the
bear, and other ferocious animals were a source of terror and suffering.
These animals, unaccustomed to the sight of man, were at first
exceedingly tame. The settlers had but few fire-arms, and ammunition was
very scarce; and the beasts knew no terror of them. They would even by
day, come to the very door of the cabin, ready to seize the little
child, or the scanty stock of poultry, pigs, or sheep, or calves, or
salted provisions which had been left exposed, government stores, &c.
And at night they made the most hideous and incessant howls, until
morning. Many instances of their rapacity in robbing the scanty yard of
the settlers, and of hair breadth escapes of individuals from wolves and
bears, are mentioned. The destruction of stock by the wolf especially,
caused the government of Canada, at an early date, (1793,) to legislate,
with a view of gradually exterminating them; and an act was passed,
granting a premium of four dollars to every one who should bring a
wolf’s head to the proper officer; and two dollars for a bear’s. It was
withdrawn with regard to bears, in 1796. “A traveller,” writing in 1835,
remarks that in Kingston, resided a person who privately bred wolves to
obtain the reward. But whether such an enterprising citizen did actually
live in the good old town the writer saith not. Instances of narrow
escapes from the wild beasts are still remembered; for instance, Lewis
Daly, of Ernest town, was suddenly attacked by a bear within a mile of
home. He sprung up a small tree, which bending over, he was in momentary
danger of being reached. His cries brought help.
In those early days, the settler, looked not for great things; schooled
by the hardships of civil war, and inured to want, and half starvation,
they asked not for riches. Enough to eat, and to be warmly clad, and
housed from the winter’s cold, was the great point to which they
stretched their longing hopes. Plenty in the future for the little ones,
and for themselves, when they had grown old, was the single purpose of
their toilsome life. A descendant of a first settler upon the front of
Sidney, tells of his grandmother whom he had heard say, that her great
ambition at first, was to raise vegetables, onions and other useful
articles in her garden bed; to have poultry then, about her. After years
she got the fowls; but a mink, in a single night killed them all. Then,
again, they had got a breeding sow, and one morning a bear walked out of
the woods, and with one hug destroyed all their hopes of future porkers.
Gradually, as years passed away, comforts began to reward the patient
and industrious pioneers; acre after acre was brought under cultivation.
The log house received an addition, a little stock was procured, and the
future brightened up before them, and by the year 1808, the settlements
in Upper Canada were increasing in number, and spreading in every
direction. “The frontier of the country was fast filling up. Persons
were taking up land several miles from the water’s edge. Some had
ventured to take up land in the second tier of townships, in the midst
of the wilderness, and many miles from any habitation. The population
was now increased to about 70,000 souls. The importations was chiefly
liquors and groceries, which by the St. Lawrence and the United States,
brought a revenue of nearly £7,000. The bulk of the inhabitants
manufactured and wore their own clothing. The way of trade was mostly by
barter, as gold and silver were scarce, and there were no banks to issue
paper currency. Intemperance was very prevalent, and schools were
scarce. The youth were too fond of foolish amusements.”—(_Playter._)