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100 Years Ago


Agriculture
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Gold Rush
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Type of People Who Settled Here

"After all the hardships and privations, we enjoyed life when we had enough to eat, and the greatest friendship and harmony existed among neighbors. If one had provisions, he would divide with his neighbors, almost to the last mouthful. We used to get together at some public places and have meetings and parties. There was no distinctions or political parties among us; we were one group struggling together." Christian Cackler, Ohio Settler, 1874.

Pioneers could not survive without helping each other out in time of need. Hardships were common and they relied upon each other for support. Some have portrayed the Ohio pioneer as being of superior stock, endowed with qualities that evoke our admiration, while others have pictured them in a less favorable light.

French traveler Michaux made this comment in 1803: "More than half of those who inhabit the borders of the Ohio are again the first inhabitants, or as they are called in the United States, the first settlers, a kind of men who cannot settle upon the soil that they have cleared and who under pretence of finding a better land, a more wholesome country, a better abundance of game, push forward...such were the first inhabitants of Kentucky and Tennessee...It will be the same with most of those who inhabit the borders of the Ohio.

This excerpt of a letter written in 1940 tells of the move of a Deweese family from Miami County to Shelby County, Ohio, ca. 1832. "...and moved his family in an old-fashioned wagon with old style Virginia wagon-bed drawn by his two sturdy farm horses, Rock and Dick...The wagon contained their household goods, farming utensils, grandfathers old trusty rifles and grandmothers spinning wheel, etc. - a strange sight —high wheels of the wagon, the harness on horses made of great wide straps. The distance was too great to be made in one day, the condition of the road considered, and they were compelled to stop between Lena and Palestine (now called Tawawa) for the night...and still 10 miles to go through the woods. They were real pioneers - their home - a mere cabin (in) a great forest with not a tree amiss except a few trees cut to form their house."

cowboy wagon 6.gif (16479 bytes)

The average life expectancy of a pioneer man, woman or child ranged from 30 to 40 years, if they were fortunate enough to survive childhood. Some of Sidney’s earliest settlers are buried at Graceland Cemetery in the ‘Pioneer’ section.

'Pioneer' segment written in October, 1997 by Sherrie Casad-Lodge

 

[ Back to Pioneer Index ]

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