SNUG, WARM CABINS

We’ve discussed the building of homestead shacks and lack of cookstove fuel previously in this blog, so I’ll quickly revisit the problems facing early homesteaders here and then get on with challenges facing pioneers with the onset of autumn and winter. Soddies had an advantage over wood construction, as a bit of rain would encourage the sod to turn to mud and fill in gaps between the sod bricks. Wood cabins had to be chinked, usually with local clay between the logs. Chinking was an endless task, as the clay would dry and frequently fall out. Lack of chinking in the summer could add a pleasant air conditioning in summer, but in winter it resulted in a snowdrift on your bed.

A snug, warm cabin resulted in happy residents, which meant the job of chinking was a necessary autumn job. Someone needs to get busy with a log cabin I visited recently as you could see blue sky between the logs.

In the cabins built by my ancestors, using flat slabs had an advantage. The slabs could be placed closer together than possible with a round log. If a crack developed between the slabs a smaller board could be nailed to solve the problem or in some cases a worn pair of overalls stuffed into the crack solved the problem. However, the round logs add a bit of insulation from the cold that isn’t true of flat slabs of wood.

As stated before wood and later coal were necessary to keep the cookstove burning during the cold nights of fall and winter. A cookstove became the most important piece of furniture in the homesteader’s cabin. Providing heat and warm food were integral to a hom

PRIVACY? HAW! HAW!

The average homestead house was approximately ten feet by twenty feet in size. When Elijah Everitt brought his family of four to this cozy spot, it included a wood burning stove, table with four chairs, and perhaps one large cot and two smaller ones. Doable, but not exactly a roomy place in 1881.

Now extrapolate out the space when Charles, Elijah’s son married his wife Mary Ann and the children bloomed from four to twelve. No wonder that in 1910, the homestead house was expanded to triple it’s size and included two bedrooms on the lower level and a huge second story divided into two rooms. It must have felt heavenly to Mary Ann and Charles to have a bedroom with a door that closed.

Of course, all that body heat probably added to the house’s warmth in winter but imagine the summer nights. Perhaps some of the older children retreated to those willow trees for sleeping accommodations. In addition to the body heat, the kitchen stove burned both winter and summer in order to provide meals for the family. Lack of windows in the house also kept cool summer breezes from lowering the inside temperatures.

Hot in summer and cold in winter didn’t make the homestead house a perfect abode, but it was home. The sacrifices made in lack of privacy and uncomfortable temperatures was overshadowed by the ultimate goal of having land to call their own.