The Good Ol' Days

Subdeacon Joe · May 23, 2023

Written in 1893, the Texas Quote of the Day is an old pioneer's wonderful description of life in North Texas back in the early 1840s:

"The next thing of importance for convenience was a hand mill, to grind corn for bread. This mill was fastened to a post; had two cranks, and the hopper was in the shape of a funnel, and would hold about one peck of corn. We had to grind the corn coarse, and then tighten the mill and grind it over again before it could be baked into bread. Some were not able to buy a mill of this kind, and had to beat their corn in a mortar, which was made as follows: A block three feet long was sawed from a large tree and set up on one end and a hole mortised in the upper end in the shape of a funnel, which would hold a half gallon of corn; the pestle was hung at the end of a long limber pole, which would spring. The corn was then soaked in water until it became soft, and was then put in the mortar; by the use of the pestle it was pounded into meal. Others made graters of tin, and boiled the corn in the ear, and when it became soft it was grated into meal. The first corn mill constructed in Fannin county was put up on Dullard's creek by a man named Anderson, and the corn had to be run through twice to make meal. The next mill put up in Fannin county was near Bonham, built by a man by the name of Gilbert. This mill made meal by one grinding, which was a great improvement in the mill business. But most of the corn was ground at home on hand mills or beat in mortars, in order to save toll. One fourth was taken by these mills, and sometimes it seemed like they had taken half, from the looks of the sack. One man sent Anderson word that he would quit his mill until it was spindled, as he knew it was bound to suck itself.

The next object was to protect our bodies from cold as well as heat. The men and boys dressed buckskin and made pants, hunting shirts, and moccasins; hats or caps were made of fur skins, and these with a home spun shirt, composed the everyday wear; and the only difference on Sunday was, they put on a clean shirt, provided they had two, which was sometimes the case. As to store bought clothes, there were few able to wear them. Women and children wore homespun clothing. The cotton cloth I saw made, the cotton seed was picked out by hand, the cotton carded by hand, and spun on a spinning wheel, and then woven on a hand loom. It was coarse, but lasted well. In making woolen fabric the wool was carded and spun in like manner. Home tanned leather and home made shoes or moccasins were in common use.

In attending church the man would hitch up the team, belt on his knife and pistols, and shoulder his gun; now all aboard were off to church. On arriving the guns were stacked in the corner of the house, and the side arms retained on the person of the owner. After breaching was over they returned home in the same manner. At parties men went armed the same a s at other places, dancing in moccasins and buckskin pants with hunting shirts made of the same material; the girls wore homespun dresses, and sometimes shoes and sometimes moccasins, and looked well at that. I have often seen families move on their land in the spring with seed corn, and not eat bread at home until they raised it.. But they lived well with the exception of bread.

Game of all kinds was plentiful, and wild honey in abundance, with plenty of milk and butter and home made cheese. Wild fruit, such as strawberries, dewberries, plums, and grapes, were plentiful in summer, as were nuts of all kinds in fall and winter. We often put up bear meat like pork; using the oil instead of lard for frying wild meat such as deer, turkeys, and fish, which were plentiful and but little trouble to get. We used spicewood and sassafras tea in place of coffee, and honey in place of sugar. Our groceries were bought with hides, hams, bear's oil, beeswax, and honey. Coffee sold for 25 cents per pound; tobacco $1 per plug; salt $12 per sack; calico 25 cents per yard; jeans $1 per yard; a common wool hat $2; shoes $2.50 per pair; boots from $5 to $10; a cloth suit from $40 to $50.

While living in Fannin County our nearest, market was Shreveport, some 200 miles from home. We only made one trip each year. Our farming tools were of a rude kind; wooden mould boards and home made stocks to plows; reap hooks for cutting grain; flails to beat out grain; the chaff winded out. When scythes and cradles were introduced we thought we had arrived at the end of perfection. Our teams consisted of one or more yoke of oxen. The Indians kept us from owning horse teams; they would drive them off as fast as we could raise or buy them. Our wagons were of the old style, with wooden axles, without spring seats, having to use chairs or planks across the top for seats; this was our best conveyance for our families when going to church."

----- Captain William Banta in his memoirs "Twenty-seven Years on the Texas Frontier," published in 1893. Here's a circa 1875 photo of William Banta in Seymore (not Seymour), Texas. Seymore was a farming community ten miles south of Sulphur Springs in south central Hopkins County, roughly 70 miles east of downtown Dallas.