Our Memories of Home

Phil McClure

Description

The Myers cabin still sits on the original cornerstones where it has stood for over 130 years. The cabin’s logs were cut from red beech that were numerous then. It was built around 1870 by Louis Myers with the help of Alvis and Samuel Banks who hewed the logs. After Carl Myers parents died in the mid 1940’s the cabin was used for storage and also used to shed a school bus under the back porch roof. Later the front and back porches were removed and the protective weather boarding was removed leaving it to the mercy of the elements. In 1995 & 1996 the cabin underwent major restoration. Several logs had to be replaced as well as the chinking. The porches were put back on. Oak shingles were split too cover the roofs. The author and his two friends Mark Wolfal and Dick Sharke volunteered their time for this two year project. Also Norman Click helped when he could.

Sujets

• Biography
• Autobiography

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse
• Date de parution: 25 septembre 2007
• Nombre de lectures: 2
• EAN13: 9781467825757
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

Our Memories of Home


A Link to the Muscatatuck



by
Phil McClure


Written in Vernacular

“The Peoples Language”

Sponsored by the Muscatatuck Wildlife Society







AuthorHouse™
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.authorhouse.com
Phone: [phone]






© 2009 Phil McClure. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 11/16/2022

ISBN: 978-1-4343-1265-5 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4343-1264-8 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-4678-2575-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2007903416




Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.



Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.














This book is dedicated to all of the families and individuals that lived on and worked this land that would later become the Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge.














In Memory of
William D. “Punkie Bill” Juett
&
Lavona May Mc Donald



My most sincere thanks to the families and individuals that invited me into their homes so that I might listen, and record life stories from their earlier days. These are the folks that make this book possible.
Stanley and Reta Hall, Mrs. Norma Vaughn Howard, *William D. “Punkie” Bill Juett, Donald and *Lovana May McDonald, Lena Minton, Vickey Oliphant and Mamie Lewis Peters.
Also, Joyce Myers Prange, Paul and Frances Richart, Bill and Verda Ruddick, Rodger Ruddick, Alberta Schneck, Lois Scheffe, Pauline Stanfield and daughters Marilyn and Patty, Steve and Sue Vaughn and Tom and Katie Zech.
The Carl Myers story was taken from a recorded interview back in the 1980’s, and a hand written letter.
Ellen Evelyn Mahoney Banks was taken from an earlier written letter. Both Carl and Ellen had passed on earlier.
* Deceased after interview.



A very special thank you goes out to my daughter Jenny McClure Baltes for taking time out of her busy schedule for coaching me, and editing my attempts at typing stories. Jenny lives with her husband Ben, and their daughter Lily in Wisconsin.
I also would like to thank my wife Judy for helping with the design of the cover and answering my questions, and helping with grammar.









My thanks also goes out to my long time friend Mark Wolfal for allowing me to use the Barkman Cemetery records that he updated recently. Also for interviewing Mamie Peters, and answering my questions. Mark has written four books himself.
Norma King and Donna Stanly for helping transcribe part of Bill Juett’s tapes.
Also the Staff at the Jackson County Public Library, Charlotte Sellers and Monica Boyer for their fantastic help with record research.





The Myers cabin still sits on the original cornerstones where it has stood for over 130 years. The cabin’s logs were cut from red beech that were numerous then. It was built around 1870 by Louis Myers with the help of Alvis and Samuel Banks who hewed the logs. After Carl Myers parents died in the mid 1940’s the cabin was used for storage and also used to shed a school bus under the back porch roof. Later the front and back porches were removed and the protective weatherboarding was removed leaving it to the mercy of the elements. In 1995 & 1996 the cabin underwent major restoration. Several logs had to be replaced as well as the chinking. The porches were put back on. Oak shingles were split too cover the roofs. The author and his two friends Mark Wolfal and Dick Sharke volunteered their time for this two year project. Also Norman Click helped when he could.



Table of Contents
Introduction
A letter by, Ellen Evelyn Mahoney-Banks
Stanley and Reta (Robinson) Hall
Mrs. Norma (Vaughn) Howard
The Hunt Farm, by Bill Hunt
Donald and Lavona May McDonald
Thurstle and Lena Minton
A Letter by Carl Myers, and Audio Tape
Vickey Oliphant
Mamie (Lewis ) Peters
Joyce Myers Prange
Paul and Frances Richart
Bill and Verda (Marshall) Ruddick (Otis Ruddick Farm)
Lois Scheffe
Elberta Johnson Schneck
Stanfield Family History
Pauline Stanfield and daughters Marilyn & Patty
Sue (McDonald) Vaughn and Steve Vaughn
Tom and Katie Zeck
More Home Photographs
Walter Barkman’s Journal
Barkman School
Myers School
The Stanfield School
Vogel / Hunt School
Barkman Cemetery Records
Vogel Hunt Cemetery
Myers Cemetery Record
The Burning Mound
Plat Map
Land Acquisition Map
Know the Author
Bibliography



Introduction
For many, giving up their homes and farms was like losing a part of themselves. Many of the families go back one-hundred-sixty years or more under the same name of ownership.
This is a unique area within itself. In prehistoric times the American Indians came to this area probably due to the abundance of food. The area now known as Moss Lake is the near perfect habitat for all types of game including deer, turkey and other small game and various species of waterfowl. This was a draw for the early hunters and gathers. From the types of stone tools found at village and small campsites suggest that people were at the Muscatatuck as early as 8,000 B.C. through Late Woodland 1000 A.D. The early people followed the animals. By doing this they had to be on the move, some fairly often. In most cases, they didn’t make a permanent structure or a village setting. It wasn’t until towards the end of the Archaic period with the transition into the Early Woodland time frame around 1000 B.C. to 1000 A.D. that permanent house structures and village life started appearing, although in southern Bartholomew County the discovery of a late Archaic site did contain house structures. The development of pottery, the bow and arrow, and agriculture came in with the Woodland period. Several of these do exist on the Refuge.
After 1816, Indiana was opened to settlers. Some people started coming as early as 1818. Perhaps there could have been a few squatters before 1816.
Much of the land that owned at the time of the land acquisition was still in the family names when it was received from the U.S. Government. The following are some of the earliest arrivals that acquired land. Samuel Stanfield, August 10 th 1820, William Hunt, June 5 th 1833, George Richart, May 10 th 1837 and Gehard Barkman, September 2 1841. Lots of hard work and hardships lay ahead for many. There were marriages, births, deaths, with many trips to the cemeteries. There were many brought to the cemetery in the back of a farm wagon and placed in a marked grave. Some, mostly infants were just wrapped and placed in an unmarked grave. Most all of the early homes were log cabins. These cabins gave way to a larger and finer home as soon as they could afford to build. For some it took most of a lifetime to achieve this, and some never had the luxury of a fine home.
Lighting was mostly done with coal oil lamps. However there was a least two families that had a carbide generator to manufacture carbide gas to furnish lighting. Another person had a small windmill generator on top of his house to charge his batteries for his radio. Then, in the 1940s, electricity was offered in this area.
Washing cloths was done using a wash boiler, scrub board, and home made lye soap shaved off of a chunk. Usually in the late summer a lot of hand dug wells would run dry. At he bottom of a twenty-foot bank is a large sycamore tree that had a spring that flowed out from beneath two roots. Women would come to the spring, some walking, and some in wagons. Very carefully they would scale down the steep bank to an awaiting copper kettle that remained there during these times. After building a wood fire, and heating water they completed their chores, then returned back up the bank, and home.
Farming was done with horses or mules until after WWII for some. Some others did have tractors. Home butchering, rendering lard from hogs, smoking hams and bacons in the smokehouse was popular. Families canned vegetables from the gardens, as well as some meats such as chicken, beef, and sausage. This was the means they used to preserved food. The lack of electricity meant no refrigeration. However some did have icehouses for storing ice through the summer that was cut off of the river during the coldest months.
There were plenty of hard times for some. An opossum or groundhog was a welcome site for their table. Hand shucking corn was slow, but at one time it was the only way it could be done. During threshing time crews went from farm to farm harvesting wheat. During the noon break hungry workers sat down at a large table under a shade tree to a meal prepared by the women, and finished up with a large glass of squeezed lemon aid.
After a hot day of threshing or pitching hay, Stanley Hall would jump into Storms Creek to wash the chaff off before going to bed that night.
During the 1930’s and during the depression era, times were difficult at the best. Besides hunting for meat, trapping for furs