2/27/99 Hi All! I do know that sugar used to be made (how or why? I dont know>) into sugar cones and sugar loafs. You would have to scrape the sugar from the cone or loaf to use it. I believe that some of the wealthier people of those times also had special spoons they used to scrape the sugar. I would like to know the history on why sugar was put into this cone or loaf mold instead of being loose like it is today. I am sure there is a very reasonable and practical answer. The only thing I can think of is it would be easier to transport. Maybe someone in our group knows the answer. I really love this list when we are all sharing and caring about our pasts and each other! Nancy/Illinois PS: Originally I sent this to Eddie. Sorry, Eddie!! > >On SUGAR & CANE: >Daniel Boone bought loaf sugar at a trading post in southwest Virginia. >Does anybody know wht "loaf sugar" was? Maybe brown sugar? My great great >grandfather had a large sugar maple grove on his farm, with large pans and >boiling kettles where he made syrup and sugar..but from the reports I have >read concerning the amount he made, I don't believe the pioneers could have >depended on maple sugar for their needs..I believe the pioneers probably >made molasses which turn into sugar after a while if they are made >thick....I helped restock a cane mill a couple of years ago which looked >like it was brought over on the Mayflower!! >The creeks and other places with "cane" in the names were probably named >for the wild cane which grew in low areas when the first Longhunters and >explorers came..I don't know if it had syrup juice in it or not..Cattle and >horses could eat it.. >G. Lee H... > > >==== SW_VA Mailing List ==== >#4 Chain letters, gossip, non-genealogical notes, commercial ads, pleas for help, etc. are >PROHIBITED on this List. Violators will be promptly locked out. -sysop > >Feminism AIN'T ladylike > > >==== SW_VA Mailing List ==== >#3 Support the fight against unrequested junk e-mail (SPAM). >Visit the webpage at: http://www.cauce.org/ > -sysop > >

Eddie, I remember my grandfather making what he called home brew. Which was a type of home made beer. My family originated from Bavaria, then on to Amsterdam before coming to the states. I remember the home brew smelled really bad. I remember he put some liquid into a large glass jar (like the ones pickled pig feet came in), added some other ingredients and covered the top of the jar. After a period of time he removed the lid and covered the jar with cloth, using a rubberband to hold the cloth on. The finished product had a yellowish color similar to beer but for the life of me I never saw any resemblence in taste or smell to beer as we know it. I believe this recipe to be one passed down through the generations as none of the neighbors in NC knew anything about making home brew. Several tried to learn how from my grandfather. Many times he traded his home brew for white lightnin'. My grandfather liked to drink the home brew and eat the pickled pig feet or pickled eggs right out of the jar. Oh, the home brew was never refrigerated but was consumed warm, at room temperature. I believe our European cousins still drink their beer or ale at room temperature. Does anyone out there have a home brew recipe? I like to get one just for the records. I wouldn't dream of mixing up the nasty concoctions. Cindy ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

My Granny used the moon as a guide to cutting hair. She swore the boys hair was to be cut on the waning of the moon, so they would not need another for a long time. The girls hair would be cut on the growing of the moon so it would grow faster. Long hair being the style, or if you wanted to change style and were not sure you were going to like it. That way it would grow fast and the change would be gone fast. If you liked the new shorter style and wanted to stay, then next time you went with the boys for hair cuts. My dad followed this plan till his last days. And when I want to change my style I to find myself looking for a moon calendar. Teresa jatsh@msn.com Hughes, Clark, Capwell, Bennick, Schaub PA/FL Anderson, Horton, Herron Jeter, Snapp, VA/TN/FL

How do you plant by the signs? I had a tomato plant a while back that grew to 8' tall and never had a single tomato. There I was with my mouth watering and no tomatoes. ---------- > From: Ruby Elrod <relrod@wilmington.net> > To: SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: Remedies vs. astrological signs > Date: Saturday, February 27, 1999 12:48 PM > > "Educated" people say that planting by the signs is an old wive's tale, but > if you have ever planted a garden, you had better dig out that old Farmers > Almanac. My mother planted green beans once and she said they had the > biggest blooms, but not one bean. Her father told her she planted by the > sign of the flowers and not by the sign of the vegetables. She was a > believer from then on, always planted by the signs, and always had the best > garden. > > Ruby > -----Original Message----- > From: Pat Oneal <peon@icx.net> > To: SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com <SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com> > Date: Friday, February 26, 1999 11:53 PM > Subject: Remedies vs. astrological signs > > > >For those of you who plant small vegetable gardens, this might be of > >interest: > > > >Signs were used for home remedies as well as planting crops. > >The family farm was one of bounty. My grandfather provided produce for the > >wholesale market in Middlesboro, KY, in the early 1900s. Legend has it that > >a local tongue-wagger remarked that he would "miss the day of resurrection > >because he'd be off and gone to the market in Middlesboro." > > Crops were planted according to the astrological signs. According to > Mama, > >in early spring a layer of manure was spread over the potato bed and a > layer > >of rich dirt was spread over the manure. The time to plant potatoes was > >half way between the old and new moon. If they were planted at the > >beginning of the new moon, farmers discovered the potatoes would grow to > the > >surface of the ground and sunburn. If planted during the old moon, they > >burrowed deep in the ground, making it difficult to dig them when > harvesting > >the crop. Sweet corn was planted when the signs were in the arms and > during > >the new moon. Signs had to be in the head when planting cabbage, and > >cucumbers were planted when the signs were in the arms and feet, otherwise > >called the Twins. My grandmother planted her bed of beets when the signs > >were in the heart, thus, producing the best beets in the valley. Pap > >planted sugarcane in white sandy loam during the full of the moon, and he > >was credited with producing top quality molasses from the cane. (There's > >More!) This aught to tell the younger readers that there was a time when > >the Moon was used for something besides romancing and for astronauts to > land > >on! > >Although I am involved in genealogy, these stories certainly have been > >enlightening to me in that I am learning how our ancestors had to use their > >ingenuity to survive. Pat > > > > > > > > > > > >==== SW_VA Mailing List ==== > >#2 A large database of SURNAMES and the researcher's email address can be > found at > >http://www.fortunecity.com/millennium/quarrybank/194/swabc.htm > >You may have your SURNAMES included by posting them and your address to the > >LIST and NOT to the sysop/owner. > > > ==== SW_VA Mailing List ==== > #9 As of 2/27/1999 we have 485 members. Traffic can get heavy so check your > mailbox often. We should regulate traffic so it don't get out of hand. > There is an average of ten members coming and going each week. > -sysop >

Crisco or lard was what my grandmother and mother used. I became a believer after I tried over the counter and prescription diaper rash ointments. This cure has also been adopted by my daughter and daughter-in-law. It not only works but it works quickly and is soooo inexpensive. TOOL(E), FUDGE, DANIELS, MCNAMEE, SEATON, STINSON,WOOD, CASE. -----Original Message----- From: Jack & Teresa <jatsh@email.msn.com> To: SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com <SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Saturday, February 27, 1999 6:28 PM Subject: Re: Remedies and Cures >My favorite cure: >Being a young mother of 20, want to take the new baby to see the family. >We drove from Fl to Bristol in a day. The man from the diaper service >suggested these new paper diaper for the trip. We thought they were >wonderful, until my blue eyed blond child with very fair skin, turned bright >fire engine red on the behind. By the time we got to granny's house he was >real fretful. She sent me to the store for something, a ruse get me out to >the house. When I returned the baby was content, when I went to change him >next, his bottom was covered with a tick covering. Grandma quickly >explained that it was Crisco cause my Uncles would not bring her lard any >more. She said lard was all she ever used on her 12 and it was much cheaper >and worked 10 times better than any fancy store stuff! We still use Crisco >in our family for diaper rash now a total of five generations later. >Teresa jatsh@msn.com > >Hughes, Clark, Capwell, Bennick, Schaub PA/FL >Anderson, Horton, Herron Jeter, Snapp, VA/TN/FL > > > > > >==== SW_VA Mailing List ==== >#6 HELP is available from the sysop/owner anytime at: > ehoward@conknet.com or swvaroot@swva.net

Loaf sugar was a hard piece of sugar about the size and shape of a loaf of bread. To use it, you pounded off a piece and mashed it up to granulate it. I think it was tan rather than white. Barbara Jennings -----Original Message----- From: G. Lee Hearl [SMTP:glh@naxs.com] Sent: Saturday, February 27, 1999 4:03 PM To: SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: King's Mountain On SUGAR & CANE: Daniel Boone bought loaf sugar at a trading post in southwest Virginia. Does anybody know wht "loaf sugar" was? Maybe brown sugar? My great great grandfather had a large sugar maple grove on his farm, with large pans and boiling kettles where he made syrup and sugar..but from the reports I have read concerning the amount he made, I don't believe the pioneers could have depended on maple sugar for their needs..I believe the pioneers probably made molasses which turn into sugar after a while if they are made thick....I helped restock a cane mill a couple of years ago which looked like it was brought over on the Mayflower!! The creeks and other places with "cane" in the names were probably named for the wild cane which grew in low areas when the first Longhunters and explorers came..I don't know if it had syrup juice in it or not..Cattle and horses could eat it.. G. Lee H... ==== SW_VA Mailing List ==== #4 Chain letters, gossip, non-genealogical notes, commercial ads, pleas for help, etc. are PROHIBITED on this List. Violators will be promptly locked out. -sysop

I think Pat Oneal and G. Lee Hearl deserve joint POW honors for their very informative posts on "sugar".

Just wondering. Was it the Scot/Irish who innovated the remedy historically known as "moonshine" ? I was told my g-grandfather conjured up some of this moutain dew now and then.

I have been watching the old remedys but have yet to see our old standby when I was a child. Kerosine, the same oil that was used in the old oil lamps with the glass globes that I hated to clean. We used kerosine for all cuts, nail punctures and when I was bitten by a copperhead snake that was all that my parents used. We had to soak the wound in it. Of course it was different than the kerosine that we have today, it was the pure stuff. I was told one time by a pharmacist that kerosine was a miracle drug but it was too cheap. I have never heard of Black Sop but we had red-eye gravy. My mother would fry home smoked ham and pour a little water and a little black coffee into the drippings, it was served over open biscuits. GOOD EATING!!! JoAnn

If we had an earache, we would get tobacco smoke blown in it. Helen in Bluefield

We lived in Illinois when I was young and mother would give us cod liver oil. She told us it was because we didn't have enough sunshine. Boy were we gullible. We ate lots and lots of carrots because it gave us good eyesight. <grin> I remember telling my children the same thing, now I tell my grandchildren and my great grandchildren. Antoinette waughtel@oz.net Mark Quillen wrote: > My Mom would not let the family eat fish and milk at the same meal. She > said it would kill us. > Women were not allowed to go near the cucumber patch at a certain time of > the month. Mom said the plants would die. > My Mother-in law thought sulphur & molasses would cure anything. You were > supposed to swallow that yellow smelly stuff!! > These posts are sure bringing back things I have not thought of in years. > Helen in Bluefield > > ==== SW_VA Mailing List ==== > #1 When you have a new email address please UNSUBSCRIBE from the > old BEFORE you lose it; and SUBCRIBE from the NEW address as soon > as you get access to it. If you fail to do this please send the > old and new address to: ehoward@conknet.com and the Mailing List name > -sysop -- Researching: Alkire, Breckenridge, Burton, Cann, Claypool(e), Denton, Daugherty, Dunbar, Evans, Gorrell, Hagan, Jimenez, Keel, Keith, Kern/es, Ladner, Lawler, Leffler, Littell, Merrifield, Norris, Pettyjohn, Ponsler, Robertson, Robinson, Rogers, Sinex, Sinnickson, Stiddem/Stidham, Tossawa/Tussey, Vantreese, Wachtel/Waughtel, Walker, White, Wilcox, Winfield

My Mom would not let the family eat fish and milk at the same meal. She said it would kill us. Women were not allowed to go near the cucumber patch at a certain time of the month. Mom said the plants would die. My Mother-in law thought sulphur & molasses would cure anything. You were supposed to swallow that yellow smelly stuff!! These posts are sure bringing back things I have not thought of in years. Helen in Bluefield

my mothers best friend was this precious little Kentucky women, who had ol remedies for most things. When my daughter was young, she had horrible nose bleeds alot, the doctor wanted to do surgery to burn the small vessels in her nose. Moms friend, Velma Gibson tied a fishing sinker (made from lead) to a string, and had my daughter wear it like a necklace. She wore this for almost a month. That was almost 20 years ago, and she has no nose bleeds since. Kathy ROARK/BADGER/BARBERY/HIGHLEY/EPPERSON SOULE/JONES/SOUTH/MANN/LEWIS

<<. My mother would fry home smoked ham and pour a little water and a little black coffee into the drippings, it was served over open biscuits.>>>>>>>>>> You people that live in SW VA better eat all the ham and biscuits you want before Wednesday. When I get there, I'm going to eat everyone in site. And the gravy too!! Now, let's get back to work.<g> -eddie Feminism AIN'T ladylike

<<No info on when sugarcane came to VA. But, do I get the "post of the week" for providing info about sugarcane and maple syrup/maple sugar????????>>>>>>>>>>> I guess, unless someone can determine when cane syrup came to SW VA. According to the book ALEX maple sugar was still being harvested after the turn of the century. Will we still call 1900 the turn of the century, after the next turn of the century?? I feel old!!! <lol> -eddie Sugarcane cultivation began in what is now the United States in the middle of the 18th century, when cuttings were planted in New Orleans. The first American sugar refinery was built in New York City in 1689, and the industry was finally established by the 1830s. Pat ==== SW_VA Mailing List ==== #4 Chain letters, gossip, non-genealogical notes, commercial ads, pleas for help, etc. are PROHIBITED on this List. Violators will be promptly locked out. -sysop Feminism AIN'T ladylike

RETURN TO SENDER, ADDRESSEE UNKNOWN. Date sent: Sat, 27 Feb 1999 21:34:28 -0600 To: "Edgar A. Howard" <ehoward@conknet.com> From: nancy hammes <nhammes@net66.com> Subject: Re: Maple & Cane sugar 2/27/99 Hi All! I do know that sugar used to be made (how or why? I dont know>) into sugar cones and sugar loafs. You would have to scrape the sugar from the cone or loaf to use it. I believe that some of the wealthier people of those times also had special spoons they used to scrape the sugar. I would like to know the history on why sugar was put into this cone or loaf mold instead of being loose like it is today. I am sure there is a very reasonable and practical answer. The only thing I can think of is it would be easier to transport. Maybe someone in our group knows the answer. I really love this list when we are all sharing and caring about our pasts and each other! Nancy/Illinois > >On SUGAR & CANE: >Daniel Boone bought loaf sugar at a trading post in southwest Virginia. >Does anybody know wht "loaf sugar" was? Maybe brown sugar? My great great >grandfather had a large sugar maple grove on his farm, with large pans and >boiling kettles where he made syrup and sugar..but from the reports I have >read concerning the amount he made, I don't believe the pioneers could have >depended on maple sugar for their needs..I believe the pioneers probably >made molasses which turn into sugar after a while if they are made >thick....I helped restock a cane mill a couple of years ago which looked >like it was brought over on the Mayflower!! >The creeks and other places with "cane" in the names were probably named >for the wild cane which grew in low areas when the first Longhunters and >explorers came..I don't know if it had syrup juice in it or not..Cattle and >horses could eat it.. >G. Lee H... > > >==== SW_VA Mailing List ==== >#4 Chain letters, gossip, non-genealogical notes, commercial ads, pleas for help, etc. are >PROHIBITED on this List. Violators will be promptly locked out. -sysop > >Feminism AIN'T ladylike > > >==== SW_VA Mailing List ==== >#3 Support the fight against unrequested junk e-mail (SPAM). >Visit the webpage at: http://www.cauce.org/ > -sysop > > Feminism AIN'T ladylike

I not up on the different kinds of cane, but I can tell you that cane was growing wild in Kentucky in the latter part of the 18th century. Early Ky. history books tell of canebreaks so thick a man could get lost in them. I believe this was the same cane that was used for molasses and cattle feed. Sue McN.

No info on when sugarcane came to VA. But, do I get the "post of the week" for providing info about sugarcane and maple syrup/maple sugar???????? Sugarcane cultivation began in what is now the United States in the middle of the 18th century, when cuttings were planted in New Orleans. The first American sugar refinery was built in New York City in 1689, and the industry was finally established by the 1830s. Pat

---------- From: G. Lee Hearl <glh@naxs.com> To: Edgar A. Howard <ehoward@conknet.com> Subject: Re: Maple & Cane sugar Date: Saturday, February 27, 1999 10:17 PM Eddie, Sorghum cane and sugar cane are different "animals" Sugar cane does not make good molasses for human consumpton, that type is black or very dark and is used in animal feed..Sorghum cane is a smaller plant and is used for the production of molasses for "soppin'"hot buttered "cat head" biscuits in. I make some every year and "sop" 'em all winter.....I will ask VPI about this..they should be able to supply some facts... G. Lee Hearl... Abingdon, Va.

Compton's Encyclopedia: Maple Syrup and Sugar The North American Indians discovered the secret of tapping maple trees. For nearly two hundred years maple sugar was the cheapest and sometimes the only readily accessible sweetener available to American colonists. It is said that trees planted by the Pilgrims in 1620 are still giving sap today. The sweet-water sap from which syrup is made is different from the circulatory sap of the growing tree; it is a special seasonal secretion. When the tree is dormant, the sap will flow from any wound in the sapwood, such as a taphole, each time a period of freezing is followed by a period of thawing. Normal tapping does not deplete the tree's resources. It removes only about 8 percent of the tree's sugar, which is easily replaced the following year. Although the sap contains 1.5 to 3 percent solids, mostly in the form of sucrose (a type of sugar), it does not have the color or flavor of maple syrup until after it has been processed. For a good run of sap, the weather should be alternately freezing and thawing; if it remains either warm or cold, the flow of sap slows or stops. Where the climate is favorable, the sap begins to run in very early spring anytime between mid-February and mid-April. It may flow for as little as five days or as long as six weeks, depending on seasonal conditions. To tap the tree, farmers drill holes into the bark at waist level. They drill one to three holes, depending on the size and sturdiness of each tree. Spouts are then driven into the holes. Some farmers have a pipeline system leading from the trees to storage tanks. Most farmers, however, hang pails on the spouts to collect the dripping sap. The sap may run swiftly or slowly, and the amount of sap produced varies from tree to tree. For a good tree, the flow ranges from 120 to 400 drops a minute, which amounts to an average of 35 gallons (132 liters) of sap per season. Boiled down, this yields about 1 gallon (3.8 liters) of syrup or 8 pounds (3.6 kilograms) of sugar. Maple syrup is made by boiling down the sap. Constant watch is kept to monitor the syrup's thickness. Impurities are strained out, and the syrup is canned quickly so that it will not become soured by bacteria. Maple sugar is obtained by boiling down the syrup until enough liquid has evaporated to cause the residue to granulate. Maple sugar and maple syrup are exclusively North American products, simply because the European climate is not conducive to substantial sap running. The United States output comes chiefly from Vermont, New York, Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Maine. Most of Canada's production comes from Quebec and Ontario. My compliments, Pat O'Neal --------------------------------------------------------- Excerpted from Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia Copyright © 1994, 1995 Compton’s NewMedia, Inc.