Thank you for all that you do to help others. Enjoyed reading the letters. Appreciate you posting them for us to read. Sue ----- Original Message ----- From: "Olivia & Larry Braddy" <olbraddy@pineland.net> To: "GAEMANUEL" <GAEMANUE@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2010 8:56 PM Subject: [GAEMANUE] 1833 letters describe area domestic characteristics #3 > #3 > > > > Note: In this portion of her letters, Mrs. Hine mentions "Auntie Collins." > Ms. Collins had been scalped as a child by Indians, but survived the > attack. She was somewhat of a celebrity and is mentioned in several early > accounts. In a letter to Edward J. Harden of Savannah, dated May 7, 1859, > Dr. W. C. Daniell stated "About 1837 ... I stopped to dinner at the house > of a Mrs. Collins, in Emanuel or Bulloch county, who had been scalped in > one of these Indian forays late in the last century. She was a tall, > stately woman, upwards of eighty years old, and wore a handkerchief on her > head to conceal the loss which she had sustained from the scalping-knife > of an Indian warrior." The letter from Daniell is printed in Edward J. > Harden's Life of George M. Troup, pages 189-92. > > > > This out-of-door life must be very pleasant through the long, hot summers. > They can always command a breeze if any air is stirring, either at the > front or back of the house, or in the broad passage way. One of the stage > stands at which we stopped was kept by an old lady called "Auntie > Collins." She always has her head tied up with a handkerchief, and over > that wears a man's broad-brimmed straw hat, out of doors and in, at the > table and everywhere.... She is utterly bald-headed, having been scalped > by the Indians when a child. Her house goes by the name of the "Pewter > Platter House." She has an immense pewter platter which extends almost > from side to side of her table, and when she has many to feed she puts her > fish, flesh, and fowl all on that one dish. A gentleman told me yesterday > that he had eaten there when she had fried fish, ham and eggs, venison, > chicken, partridges, sausages and roast pork all on that huge pewter dish. > But we did not see it the night we stopped there! > , probably because there were no guests but ourselves, but she gave us a > most royal supper and breakfast, and would have put us up lunch enough for > a week if we would have suffered it. > > > > This stage road which we came passes, they say, through as poor a section > of country as there is in the state, hence the meagre settlements and the > class of people who, as a general thing, reside here. Those who are too > poor to buy productive land can get a home here for almost nothing. They > come here, perhaps, with one horse and a cart and all of their earthly > possessions in it, and if they will go to work as some of them do, they > soon find themselves, in a measure, comfortable, according to their ideas > of comfort. This propitious climate is everything to a farmer who is poor. > He is not obliged to intermit his labors when winter comes, but can keep > at work out of doors all the time, with exceptional days of course. He can > keep his family warm in an open house, can clear new ground, split rails > for fencing, and get his grounds in good shape for culture ere the season > comes to plant. It is a matter of unceasing surprise to me how many home > comforts these people who are so rem! > ote from any market or mart of trade can make for themselves. One house > particularly, which was a marvel of neatness, too--occupied by a young > couple who had been married but a few years--had scarcely anything about > it which was not the work of their two pairs of hands. > > > > The house was simply one large room. He had got the logs out himself, and > hewed them square to make it more sightly. His neighbors had helped him to > raise it. He rived out the shingles to cover it and put them on himself, > and built his own chimney of sticks, plastered with mud. There were two > bedsteads in the room of his own make, the mattresses made of straw from > their own wheat, while the beds had evidently been supplied with feathers > from a large flock of geese which were ranging about the premises, and the > ticks and the sheets and the spreads were all manifestly the work of the > wife. He had made his own table also. There was not a chair in the house, > but a number of three-legged stools--some with legs long enough to use at > the table in eating, and others made with shorter legs--a long, low > settle, which would seat four or five, which was a most comfortable seat, > and made evidently from the half of a hollow log, which had been > manipulated until in shape it resembled, the ! > whole length of it, the seat of a Boston rocker and had had friction > applied to it until it was very smooth. This was mounted on four legs. The > doors to the house were upright planks nailed together by battons, and > their fastenings wooden latches whittled out by hand, which worked with a > string. The window shutters were made the same as the doors, and closed > with a string, which was tied on to a nail driven in the shutter and wound > around a nail driven in the house. > > > > Their household vessels for holding milk, lard, salt, and various other > things were gourds. The clothing of both the man and his wife and their > little baby was evidently spun and woven by the woman herself. Her > spinning wheel stood there in the corner of the room, and the loom just > outside of the house, with a shelter built over it. The man said he had > dug his own well. The bucket he used in it was a cypress knob, hollowed > out. A string of plaited bear's grass (a native growth) served as a > handle. It was tied to a pole which, being fastened at the other end on a > tall upright rest, formed what they called a "sweep." It was a perfect > novelty to me. The flexible pole to which the bucket was attached was bent > down over the well to sink the bucket, and it would rise itself full of > water. > > > > At the well, mounted on logs, was a long trough, deeply dug out from a > huge tree, in two sections--one end to serve as a wash tub, the other to > water the stock in. Both had auger holes in the bottom to let the water > off when necessary, stopped up with corn-cobs for corks. The only thing we > saw on the whole premises which had been bought at a store were some > simple table ware and a few cooking utensils, and these probably had been > hauled many a mile. Against one side of the room were long shelves, > resting on huge wooden pegs driven into the logs, which were piled with > bedding and clothing, showing the work of thrifty hands. These shelves > served the purpose of wardrobe and bureau and closet, of which the house > was guiltless. The family, consisting of Mr. Fleming, his wife, and their > little one (not yet two years old) looked the picture of contentment and > happiness. Everything about them was neat and in sparkling order. > Evidently they do not eat the bread of idleness. So many t! > imes since leaving them I have thought of them and their simple life, > which rivals that of Robinson Crusoe, and thought that more than anyone I > ever saw they led an independent life. Their table was bountifully > supplied with meat and fowls and garden vegetables, all of their own > raising.... > > > -- > I am using the free version of SPAMfighter. > We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam. > SPAMfighter has removed 46009 of my spam emails to date. > Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len > > The Professional version does not have this message > Emanuel County GaGenWeb > http://www.thegagenweb.com/gaemanuel/ > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > GAEMANUE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message