Sugarmaker
01-24-2014, 04:37 PM
Folks continued portion of the sketches of John R King. I put this under Sugar house construction because this is how you might have built a new sugarhouse in 1800.
Another portion of a article written and printed from the pen of my great great grandfather John R. King. He is talking about methods and equipment used to build structures in the pioneer days of the late 1700's and mid 1800's.
Dec 10 1918 Weston Independent Newspaper, Weston, West Virgina.
It would be a very hard task for people of this day and time, if they had to build their houses under the same circumstances which faced our old pioneers. In the first place, sawed lumber could not be gotten for love nor money, through some of the more enterprising people brought whip-saws and whipsawed a few boards for doors, tables, and for upper floors, lower floors were made of puncheons, as they were called. These were made by splitting poplar or chestnut logs as thin and as broad as they could be made, and then, one side of the puncheon was hewn with a broad ax or just a chopping ax, and then they were sized at the ends and laid for a floor. It was a sight to see two men whip-sawing. A whip saw was made with handles cross ways instead of perpendicular, like the common cross cut. The whip-saw had a section of the middle toothed, and a great long section on each end without teeth.
They were toothed in a way so they would cut on the down stroke, the up stroke was thrown back and went free. In order to get a log ready for whip sawing, the men would hew it on four sides and then strike a line one two sides, just where the saw should cut, then the men would find a place for what was called the pit, which was made by finding an offset in the hillside where they could settle a couple of heavy forks in the ground and lay strong poles from the bank out on the forks and then put the log to be sawed out on the poles with one lined side down and the other up. Then one man stood on top of the scaffold and the other in the pit, then they ripped the log into boards, both following the line. It was all hard work and the boards were rough.
It was a hard matter at that time to get nails. Sometimes the only nail to be had was a wrought nail made by the blacksmith, I well remember when there was no railroad this side of Cumberland Maryland. All sorts of store goods had to be hauled across mountains in wagons. Sometimes people got their merchandise from along the Ohio River. Nails being heavy, were costly and hard to get before the railroad came our way. It would be a very strange thing now to see a roof without a nail being used in putting it on, but it was common thing way back among the old-time builders to see a good roof which had been fastened on with small pins instead of nails.
Once when I was a boy my father and I were passing by an old barn belonging to old uncle Tommy Holbert near Benton's Ferry, in Marion County. Father said lets go in and look at that barn. I want you to see something I was telling you about. The barn was partly torn down and a large section of the roof fast together yet. It lay on timbers on the ground. I examined it carefully ans saw that there was no nails used in the roof anywhere. The shingles were lap shingles, which takes but one nail to a shingle, but this roof was put on with small square oak pins, the holes for the pins were bored with a gimlet. The rafters and lath were pinned on and I can show you a big barn now in Gilmer County where the big doors hanging in the driveway are put together with inch pins where nails ought to be.
Hope you enjoyed this. As time permits I may take other bits and pieces of these articles and retype them and post for your viewing.
Regards,
Chris
Another portion of a article written and printed from the pen of my great great grandfather John R. King. He is talking about methods and equipment used to build structures in the pioneer days of the late 1700's and mid 1800's.
Dec 10 1918 Weston Independent Newspaper, Weston, West Virgina.
It would be a very hard task for people of this day and time, if they had to build their houses under the same circumstances which faced our old pioneers. In the first place, sawed lumber could not be gotten for love nor money, through some of the more enterprising people brought whip-saws and whipsawed a few boards for doors, tables, and for upper floors, lower floors were made of puncheons, as they were called. These were made by splitting poplar or chestnut logs as thin and as broad as they could be made, and then, one side of the puncheon was hewn with a broad ax or just a chopping ax, and then they were sized at the ends and laid for a floor. It was a sight to see two men whip-sawing. A whip saw was made with handles cross ways instead of perpendicular, like the common cross cut. The whip-saw had a section of the middle toothed, and a great long section on each end without teeth.
They were toothed in a way so they would cut on the down stroke, the up stroke was thrown back and went free. In order to get a log ready for whip sawing, the men would hew it on four sides and then strike a line one two sides, just where the saw should cut, then the men would find a place for what was called the pit, which was made by finding an offset in the hillside where they could settle a couple of heavy forks in the ground and lay strong poles from the bank out on the forks and then put the log to be sawed out on the poles with one lined side down and the other up. Then one man stood on top of the scaffold and the other in the pit, then they ripped the log into boards, both following the line. It was all hard work and the boards were rough.
It was a hard matter at that time to get nails. Sometimes the only nail to be had was a wrought nail made by the blacksmith, I well remember when there was no railroad this side of Cumberland Maryland. All sorts of store goods had to be hauled across mountains in wagons. Sometimes people got their merchandise from along the Ohio River. Nails being heavy, were costly and hard to get before the railroad came our way. It would be a very strange thing now to see a roof without a nail being used in putting it on, but it was common thing way back among the old-time builders to see a good roof which had been fastened on with small pins instead of nails.
Once when I was a boy my father and I were passing by an old barn belonging to old uncle Tommy Holbert near Benton's Ferry, in Marion County. Father said lets go in and look at that barn. I want you to see something I was telling you about. The barn was partly torn down and a large section of the roof fast together yet. It lay on timbers on the ground. I examined it carefully ans saw that there was no nails used in the roof anywhere. The shingles were lap shingles, which takes but one nail to a shingle, but this roof was put on with small square oak pins, the holes for the pins were bored with a gimlet. The rafters and lath were pinned on and I can show you a big barn now in Gilmer County where the big doors hanging in the driveway are put together with inch pins where nails ought to be.
Hope you enjoyed this. As time permits I may take other bits and pieces of these articles and retype them and post for your viewing.
Regards,
Chris