Occupations, Machinery, and Equipment

This page is a stub, being used to capture information about a particular subject, in preparation for development of a formal article. Please note that some of the data, perhaps much of, or even all of the data, presented here is derived from secondary and tertiary sources. The intent is to eventually tie everything to an "original" or primary source, or at least to something that can be accepted as a surrogate for such a source. See Category:Stub Warnings For Southwest Virginia Project for a list of articles with stub warnings.
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This article provides a menu for a variety of articles dealing with pioneer occupations, machinery, and equipment, and assorted odds and ends of potential interest. At the moment information is simply being collected here for future assembly.

From: Source:Hamilton, 1973

A Carding Machine was a machine for carding wool by separating fibers and cleaning them of extraneous matter, making it soft and ready for the bobbin. Before invention of the Carding Machine, and for a long time after, wool was "carded" by hand with devices known as wool cards. The wool cards were brush like devices with stiff wire bristles for combing the wool and removing foreign matter much as the carding machine did, but much slower.

A Fulling Machine was for fulling cloth by means of pestles or stampers which beat and pressed it to a close, compact state, cleaned it, and made a finer, less coarse cloth.

Methiglum

"Biblical wine" was made from the squeezed comb of honey and is known as Methlium or Mede, but by the people of the day was called "Methiglum". Source:Hamilton, 1973 Methiglum was a combination of honey, water and herbs which was allowed to ferment for two years until ready to drink. Hope Lodge colonial home near Philadelphia Hamilton in his article on SW VA mills tells us that Methelium was served by one of the mill owners to his workers at the end of the day.

From: obituary of HURUM EDGAR Reeve, Jacksonville Journal, Tuesday, June 27, 1893

I came to this state in 1816 with my parents, Isaac Reeve and his wife. I was born in Wilkes county, North Carolina, from which vicinity we removed to Knox County, thence to Murrey County, Tenn., thence to St. Clair County, Illinois in 1816. There we remained four years, when we started for Morgan County, settling about one half a mile from the spot now occupied by Diamond Grove Cemetery...The cow and the old hog each had a bell and for the sound of these the boys would listen intently when the stock was wanted and bring them into camp. When we arrived here our only shelter was a sheet stretched over some poles stuck in the ground and as it was in March, we were not troubled with the heat. In time however the sheet gave way to a very aristocratic mansion. We cut down trees, notched the ends of the longs and put up a cabin which to us was much more of a palace than any fine residence could be today. The dirt floor gradually gave way to puncheons which were boards hewn with a broad ax while the bed steads were made by setting up two forks on which rested one end of two sticks, the other being suck in the logs of the house. On these were laid puncheons or bark was stretched while stools took the place of chairs and a ladder the place of stairs. Our doors were hung on wooden hinges and fastened with wooden latches, the strings of which were always out as a sign of hospitality. Soot from the prairie made the fireplace, and sticks plastered with mud made the chimney..... Our clothing was quite primitive. We planted cotton, which thrived pretty well and when it was ripe we picked it, extracted the seed by a tedious process and carded it by hand and spun it on a wheel. The men mostly dressed in buckskin and when it was dry after being wet, it wasn't very comfortable. Our food was of a very primitive sort, corn and pork being the staples. We planted ten acres of corn, but there was no rain till the 1st of June. However, it grew anyway and when the first roasting ears were ready for the table, we had a feast you may be certain. The nearest mill was St. Clair County and there a good many went and waited patiently their turn. To accommodate the neighbors Isaac Fort Roe constructed a primitive hand mill made of two stones in a "gum" or upright log and the corn was fed at the top, the meal dropping out slowing below.

Our luxury was wild honey, which was fairly plentiful and greatly enjoyed. After squeezing the honey, we used to take the comb, soak it in water and make what we called "methiglum", a very palatable drink and quite good to eat with mush. .. ...

We began to raise wheat the third year. We cut it with a sickle, cleaned off a space on the ground and tramped out the grain with horses and throwing aside the straw. Two persons would shake a blanket vigorous while a third person tossed up the mixed grain and chaff so that the latter could be blown away.

The little we had to sell we had to haul to St. Louis, where it sold for 50 cents a bushel when the market was good. We had hardly any grain sacks, but used barrels, instead, which my father made.

Spring House

From: Source:Hamilton, 1973 Near where Billy Gray's L-shaped log house once stood is one of the few brick spring houses built on the frontier of Virginia, where the family water supply came from and where the milk was kept cool on hot days. It is shaded by a large catalpa tree that must be well over a century old and has been a home for wild bees for many years. The mill and spring house creek have large catalpa trees spaced from the spring house to where the creek empties into Clinch River planted by loving hands in the long ago.