Some Early Marriages History IA.

Some Early Marriages
Section 2. Marriage History

The earliest writings during the "Cave-Man" era in relation to marriage records indicate that the bride was captured from another tribe, or was purchased by gifts to her tribe or to herself. HOMER in his papers the "Iliad" shows that marriage was merely captive or purchase and without ceremony. We look to the Roman civilization for the gradual development of municipal, civil, and canonical laws of marriage. According to the early Romans no special ceremony was required other than mutual consent without impediments such as nearness of kin. Later formalities were designed and used for marriages; a religious rite, and both a higher and lower form of civil ceremony.

Christians looked with disfavor on the laxity of the Roman Empire and in 1074 A. D. the Counsel of Rouen decided that "no marriage shall be solemnized privately, nor after meals, but that the bride and groom being fasting shall be blessed by a priest in like manner fasting and that before he proceed to marry them inquiry shall be made whether the parties be in relation in the seventh degree of consanguinity"

The Council of Trent, 1537-1875, took a decisive step in anathematizing those who teach that marriage not contracted in the presence of a priest and two witnesses should be voided. Three publications of banns in a church were required so that if there was an impediment it would be more easily shown. In opposition the Dean of Sorbonne quaintly argued that the marriage of ADAM and EVE was contracted privately.

The spread of Reformation hindered this acceptance of cannon law in Sweden, Germany and Holland. However, the insistence that the ceremony take place in public, before a congregation and after the publication of banns commended itself to the clergy of all countries and to the public in general. A contract or engagement of marriage was regarded as having almost the binding force of a marriage itself. This suggests a survival of the idea from the Romans that the mutual contract between the parties actually constituted a marriage and the ceremonies merely sanctified or sanctioned the union.

Controversies and deliberation continued around money charged to perform marriages, age marriage was allowed, and consent by the family. Generally throughout Europe customs decreed the announcing of banns and a civil or religious ceremony. These same laws were brought to the new Colonies from Europe. Licenses were granted to those who wished to dispense with the delay and notoriety of publishing the banns for three weeks. Under the Duke of Yorks Laws the first license found on this continent was on February 18, 1665. Around 1719 the Secretary of State in New Jersey caused the marriage bonds to be bound in thirty-two volumes with an index prepared for each.

Hostility arose to the marriage license system about the time the Stamp Act was passed in 1765. Citizens felt that it cost a month's wages or more for a license and that it was a system for the rich rather than the poor with the money going into the British coffers. After the American Revolutionary War the colonies passed laws which provided for regulations regarding mutual consent, blood relationship, and the age of the parties. These laws also provided that an ordained minister, justice of the peace, or other judicial official should perform the ceremony. A record keeping system was established and has been maintained to the present.

As Americans pushed westward over the frontier it was at times difficult to comply with these laws. In this account we find recorded difficulty in finding an official to perform the ceremony. In Page County, Iowa the Circuit Pastors, the presiding Probate Judge or the nearest Justice of the Peace in the township was often called upon to officiate.

See Section .3 - People and Places, for the early Minister, Towns, Townships names and organization....

The wedding was frequently held in the home of the bride which might be a dugout, a lean-to, a soddie, or a small one room cottage. Romance was not deterred by these difficulties, the young couples did not believe their life was amid hardships and privation, but with courage and determination to build their home and family and improve their life style.

THE COWARDS NEVER STARTED
THE WEAK DIED ON THE WAY
ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVED
THEY WERE THE PIONEERS

IOWA TERRITORY - HOUSING:

The families who lived in the Iowa Territory, faced many problems. Providing for basic needs of housing and food was paramount. Most of the pioneers brought with them such items as flour, starter yeast, beans, bacon, dried fruit, coffee, sugar, salt, vinegar, plows, oxen, buckskin, rocking chair, chamber pot, tinware, cast iron skillets, Dutch ovens, linsey woolens, shafts, butter churns, and even perhaps a book, violin or mouth harp.

The new settlers endeavored to plant gardens their first year, but sometimes it provided to late in the season. The stubborn sod was difficult to break and the small supply of seeds which they brought did not sprout well due to the sparse moisture and hot dry winds. There was little timber to cut to build houses. If the settlers were unable to break the sod with their meager equipment they dug a hole in a hillside, hung a blanket over the opening and moved into the dirt home.

Even the most erstwhile housewife could not bring cheer to the dank, dark interior of a dugout. Most of the settlers had little cash, but cash was of negligible value since there were few good to purchase. Greater assets were strong young men and women who worked together tirelessly to build, plant, dig, and harvest.

The physical aspects of housing and food may have seemed insurmountable but the young people enjoyed a life of hard work, practical jokes, wit and humor. The neighbors enjoyed social activities and visiting. Building bees and barn raising's were held and most of the settlers were soon housed, one way or another. They endeavored to carve furrows in soil so matted and tough that an ordinary plow would snag the sod or skitter across its surface.

All the elements seemed to conspire against the white man's habitation. Indians roamed the countryside and were more a source of fear than danger for the settlers. Drought, cinch bugs, and grasshoppers destroyed many of the gardens and crops. Most of these pioneers accepted the challenge. All of their support came from the soil - - there were no jobs in the Iowa Territory as we know them now.

THE PRAIRIE "SODDIE"

Thriftiness became the key to survival. The underground living was a temporary type of home and most of settlers moved up to that classic of prairie architecture, the "Sod House". It was drier, sturdier and generally more comfortable than the lowly dugout. In fact, it had so many advantages that some settlers continued to build them even after lumber became available. The building material for the "Soddie" was in great abundance but the construction was arduous. The buffalo grass of the prairie sprouted from densely tangled roots that filled and held the top three inches of the soil.

Sometimes the sod blocks (1'6" x 1'6") were cut from soil with a broad axe. The blocks were then lifted into a wheelbarrow or wagonno easy task. A rectangle was laid out for the new house by night to get straight alignment by the north star. Neighbors placed the blocks, grass side down, with the layers staggered like brickwork, two rows side by side which made the wall almost three feet thick. Corners were pinned together by hammering a sapling down through the staggered blocks. Spaces were left for windows and a door. Roofs were of willow poles, brush, long grass, layers of clay from the creek banks and then a final dressing of sod, grass side up. Grass and wild flowers grew sparsely from the roofs in the spring. Sometimes heavy downpours of rain caused the roof to leak and various bits of matter constantly fell from the ceilings. The young housewives tacked cheesecloth to the rafters to catch the dirt and plastered the walls with a mixture of lime and sand. Centipedes were frequent visitors. Efforts were made to make the "Soddie" tight to keep out the weather and deter snakes, field-mice and rats.

Fleas and bedbugs were also a constant nuisance. Tables and chairs were made from shipment boxes or blackjacks and rawhide. Without bedsteads or springs, these newly weds slept on straw mattresses on the floor. Dried grass or buffalo dung was used for heating or cooking. Water-gravy and biscuits were a staple diet.

These early Iowa Territory settlers, could not transport anything to market to obtain cash or buy supplies. Transportation was nil as no railroads traversed the country and the rivers were dangerous to cross due to quicksand. When they did transport it would average about 30 miles a day with their wagons and teams. They would carry shovels and spades to trim the rough edges off banks of rivers and ditches which were too steep for the wagons.

Prairie dogs, coyotes and owls provided music for the settlers at night, but the prairie dogs brought fleas to live in the soddie and coyotes and owls would kill their livestock and chickens. Not even the water could be taken for granted. Some hauled water by barrels for themselves and livestock, others dug a "Cistern" to catch run-off water from the roof of the soddie when there was rain.

MULES THE PIONEER'S MACHINERY:

Some of these daring settlers risked life and limb with unbroken mules but once trained to harness they provided sure footed, smart, quick moving and durable farm animals. A good mule would cost approximately $90.00. Oxen could pull heavier loads, would eat anything, did not run away at night, and cost only about $50.00, but they were slow.

Late summer work for these pioneer farmer's would included repair and oil for the heavy harnesses used on his work mules. This writers Grandfather explained many years ago that the harnesses leather is made out of interlocking fibers which become brittle when dry but are elastic and had great tinsel strength when contained sufficient oil. My Grandfather would disassembled the harness at the buckles, dry-brush it and put it in a wire basket and lower into a bath in hot water with a treatment of "tallow" and "neatsfoot" oil till bubbles no longer rise to the surface. Then lift out and leave in the wire basket above the bath can till the draining ceases. Wipe all parts with a rag and put back together. Then he would hang on a tree to dry. No sore shouldered mules or sore backed horses were the satisfactory result. He so declared that his harnesses so treated would seldom needed repaired and lasted 20 years or more.

EARLY CULTIVATION:

Many of these early pioneers in the Iowa Territory were not actually farmers by trade and this was not a good environment to learn the skills of farming. After a rain a farmer might be able to plow 12 acres with a good team of mules or oxen before the soil became too dry and hard for cultivation.

It has been reported that my Grandfather could by using a 2 row cultivator, arranged with discs in the "Corsa" style, the first time over, and changing his 4 horses at noon, he would cultivate 20 acres per day 16 or 17 acres if he did not change horses at midday.

Hot weather often came suddenly in the Iowa Territory about June, and when it did old horses or those not in good condition were apt to die. Such losses were unnecessary. Horses that have been handled wisely and worked steadily, from March till June, would be in good condition. The following was reported by my Grandfather: Ermal L. WILSON
"Horses should be left out nights during the spring months in a well drained straw-bedded barn lot, with access to ample diversified roughage, until near the last of May, by which time blue-grass and clover pasture will be past the "washy" stage. After this, the horses should be turned out on pasture about 8 o'clock every night, but allowed all the good hay they will eat with their grain, morning, noon and night. Grain, preferably oats, should be allowed at the rate of one pound for each 100 weight of horse a 1,600 pound animal, 16 pounds per day. Last, but most important of all, get started early, press the work well in the cool of the morning, ease up and allow short rests more frequently during the heat of the day: and ABOVE ALL ELSE, take 2 or 3 barrels of water to the field with you, and water the horses every hour. See that they have access to all the salt they want, in the stable, or out on pasture, for sweating horses lose heavily both of water and salt. Men who follow my system, if ever will lose a horse from heat"

        COMPARABLE NUMBERS IN THE U. S. 1900 - 1950
   Year      Work Horse    Tractors     Trucks    Autos 
   1900     22,200,000         3,700
   1910     23,500,000         2,000 
   1920     25,750,000       250,000    900,000  14,000,000
   1930     19,100,000       920,000
   1940     14,400,000     1,700,000  4,500,000  26,000,000
   1950      6,900,000     4,100,000  8,000,000  42,000,000

Most of these early settlers had to dig 75 to 100 feet or more for water by hand, scooping out the dirt by shovel-full. Sometimes the hole would collapsed on the digger. Latter well digging became mechanized at the cost of $ 1.00 per foot. Before the well was dug, underground water had to be discovered. For this a "Water Witch" was employed. A Water Witch traced his skill back to Moses and was said to possess "the ability to devine underground water." He would walk over the land with a forked and shaped willow switch held in both hands. If the tail of the switch began to turn downward or vibrate it indicated that a water supply lay directly below.

A mechanical device which the settler could finally afford was the windmill which harnessed the most reliable and handiest energy source to pump water from deep wells. This metal tower with its fan like blades was a "lofty symbol of the farmers victory over the trials of prairie living" The fan pivoted to face the wind so that it was not ripped to shreds in the strong gusts.

Although crude windmills had been common for centuries, it was not until 1867 that DANIEL HALLIDAY perfected the first sectional "vaneless" wheel to form a self-regulating windmill for pumping water. About the same time Reverend L. H. WHEELER perfected a "solid-wheel" type that was self regulating by an adjustable vane.

ORIGIN OF THE WINDMILL - 1854

In 1854 JOHN BURNHAM, a "Pump Doctor" in Connecticut, suggested to his friend DANIEL HALLADAY, a young mechanic in Ellington, Conn., that a self-governing windmill could save a lot of human energy in pumping water, because there was an abundance of wind all over the country. Mr. HALLADAY proceeded to build a windmill which governed itself be centrifical force. Thus, the first windmill, as we know them, was introduced by "HALLADAY WINDMILL COMPANY," located in South Coventry, Conn., in 1854.

Mr. BURNHAM, an HALLADAY salesman, found that the real market was in the western prairie states (west of the Mississippi River), so in 1867 he moved to a new headquarters in Chicago under a new name called "THE UNITED STATES WIND ENGINE and PUMP COMPANY" Mr. HALLADAY continued to manufacture the windmills in Connecticut for Mr. BURNHAM.

Mr. BURNHAM sold the Union Pacific Railroad Company some 77 huge windmills, to be erected at strategic places along the new "Transcontinental Railroad" then being built. these windmills were to furnish water for locomotives that commenced running from Chicago to California in 1869.

It was not until in the 1870's that a Mr. COLLINS was appointed to sell HALLADAY'S windmills west of the Mississippi River. It was then that a HALLADAY factory was built in Batavia, Illinois to supply home-steaders with windmills. This was when windmills really started to sell. At least a dozen other Windmill manufactures sprung up, as well as "barbed wire" manufactures. Some historians claim that Barbed Wire and Windmills made settlement of the West possible.

In 1884 the "DEMPSTER" a windmill was introduced that could "thresh the grain, saw wood, pump water, do the churning, and even wash clothes", but it really only did one job well for the next 50 years however, and that was to pump water.

The DEMPSTER windmill controlled its speed and kept from blowing to pieces in a strong wind or tornado by gradually folding its off-center blade sections (slats), which comprise the wheel, parallel with the hub so as to "spill" the wind as it rushed past the blades (slats.)

The "ECLIPSE" windmill's speed was controlled by a vane (small tail) alongside the slatted wheel. This (small tail) folded parallel with the large vane (big tail) as the wind increased in velocity. Both the Dempster and Eclipse type windmills had open gearing and each revolution of the wheel completed a full stroke of the pump. Some windmills had smaller metal wheels, such as the "AIRMOTOR" with enclosed gearing running in oil, geared down approximately five to one ratio. By 1925 there were probably 20 million windmills in the United States. Electric power has replaced most windmills and they are disappearing from the farm scene entirely.

BARBED WIRE FENCING - 1873

Prior to the development of "Bob Wire" as it was commonly called, farmers would plant mock orange or hedge-apple trees, with their prickly branches to create a pasture fence.

Although a French patent was granted to an Mr. GRASSIN and Mr. BALEDANS in 1861 for a crude barbed wire, comprising wood rails or links with barbs attached, it did not prove practical. The first machine drawn wire was made in England in 1865. Eight years later (1873) Mr. JOSEPH GIDDEN, an Illinois farmer was granted a patent on an improved barbed wire, basically the same as it is made today. Barbs were first slipped over one of a pair of twisted wires at 12 inch intervals. "The double twisted strands" said he in his patent application "not only would keep the barbs in place, but also would keep the fence taut."

Mr. GIDDEN sold half interest of his patent to ISAAC ELLWOOD for $ 265.00 and together set up the "BARBED WIRE FENCE COMPANY" in DeKalb, Illinois. Their first machinery for producing barbed wire was from a converted coffee grinder, a cold chisel and an anvil. Three years later in 1876, Mr. GIDDEN sold his interest to WASHBURN-MOEN COMPANY, wire drawers, for $60,000 plus royalties for life, and ISAAC ELLWOOD continued to make millions out of "Barbed Wire." In 1910 oil was discovered on ISAAC ELLWOOD's Texas hunting grounds. When the oil started flowing "Port Arthur", Texas was built to ship oil down river. Thus was started the TEXAS OIL COMPANY.

Many versions of the original patented fencing were brought on the market, some with mediocre success because of their lower cost, but as time went on people learned that the originally patented double twisted wire proved best.

  The following are the first 11 years figures of "Bob-Wire Sold:
   YEAR     TONS      MILES         YEAR   TONS      MILES
   1874          5        10        1880    40,000    80,000   
   1875        300       600        1881    60,000   120,000 
   1876      1,500     3,000        1882    80,000   160,000
   1877      7,000    14,000        1883   100,000   200,000
   1878     13,000    26,000        1884   125,000   250,000
   1879     25,000    50,000        1885   130,000   260,000

Another status symbol for the early settler was the "Team and Wagon" and these were proudly displayed at community meetings and church services. The wagon needed to be light enough so not to place a strain on mules or horse team, yet strong enough to carry some 2,500 pounds. The wood of the wagon was made of maple, hickory, or oak. Later iron was used for the wheels, axles and hounds, which were bars connecting the under carriage. The bed was a rectangular wooden box about 4 feet wide and 10 to 12 feet kong. At the front end was a tool box. The covering, if their was one, was of canvas or cotton with drawstrings. A grease bucket with tar, lard or tallow completed the wagon. Oxen were preferred to horses for they did not attract the Indians and were less costly to keep.

THE CONESTOGA WAGON - 1700's

When the trek started west across the Alleghenies in the early 1800's, the ox-cart was forsaken for the larger, sturdier "CONESTOGA" Wagon. On the south shore of Lake Erie some 250 wagons were counted in one day in 1834, and a settler at Jonesville, Michigan in 1836 observed "a line of wagons almost continuous." Historians have estimated that between 1830 and 1880 more than a million Conestoga Wagons crossed the Alleghenies and passed on out to the fertile prairie lands beyond.

This ponderous vehicle, later dubbed a "prairie schooner" or "ship of the desert," and later eventually ending up in Hollywood as the "Covered Wagon," was conceived among the frugal Pennsylvania Dutch farmers on the banks of the Conestoga Creek in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. When these farmers fertile acres began to yield crops beyond their own needs, they had to devise some form of conveyance to take their produce to market, and market meant Baltimore or Philadelphia.

So the "wheelwrights" began to build a bigger and more rugged wagon. While it had its origin in Lancaster County, nevertheless many Conestoga wagons of the same pattern were built in Burks County, Pennsylvania.

The gear was cut from White Oak planks with a "sweep" or "bow- saw". The bolsters were hewed by hand. The axles of the best Hickory, were shaped by hand with a "drawing knife," and then the spindles were turned on a big lathe.

The body was built on a solid frame work of Oak or Ash, mortised and as rigid as a stone wall. The sides were of then Poplar. It was curved downward in the middle from 4 to 6 inches, depending on the length of the body. This dip in the body helped to keep the load from slipping and shifting around while enroute to market. The ends were built on an angle, resembling the prow of a ship.

In the middle on the left-hand side of the body, and a trifle forward of the brake-beam, was fastened a board, level with the floor of the wagon bed, and firmly braced with iron rods. This was for the wagoner or teamster to stand on while pulling on the brake. The earliest models had no side brake. only one in the rear. An extra man, often times a boy barley in his teens, would accompany each team. The "Brake Boy" would stand on a platform which was called "the lazy board." Later a side brake was put on, and each operated individually.

Along the sides of the body were numerous wrought iron staples for fastening the hoops supporting the cover. These hoops were formed by inserting the end of a thin Hickory pole into the staple, bending it over and putting the other end into another staple directly opposite on the other side.

At the front end of the body was a wooden box about 2 feet long, 1 foot deep. It had a sloping lid, fastened with hinges, and a hoop for a padlock. The hinges and hasp of this box were masterpieces of some skilled smithy, very elaborately embellished with scrolls, spirals and curlicues, with hearts and tulips predominating. In it were kept spare links, bolts, middle rings, hame straps and extra linch pin or two and whatever one might need on a long trip. Extra brake-blocks and nails were also put in it; and many a pint of "Applejack" was hidden their.

The "end-bows," or hoops, followed the same angle as the body, so the top was considerably longer than the floor. This "bonnet" served to keep the load dry while in transit, for more once started on their trek of 100 to 150 miles, to market these wagons were out in the open day and night. The cover (bonnet) was made of coarsely woven homespun which was tied on. Some gave it a coating of wax and tallow to make it more water-resistant.

The axles, or rather the spindles, had a narrow strip of steel, inlaid lengthwise, and flush with the wood. This took care of the wear that would have resulted from friction and seriously shortened the life of the axle. Being made of wood, axles in those days had no big nut at the end to keep the wheel in place. There was a square hole through the iron ring at the outer edge of the hub. This hole was 3/4 of an inch in diameter and went clear through the spindle, but no further. Into this hole was dropped the "linch pin," a piece of iron easily slipping into place and having a shoulder at one side on the top to keep it from slipping through. Its length conformed to the inside measurement of the hub cap or ring.

My Grandfather stated many a times that a time-worn linch pin would jump out of its socket when the wheel bounced over a rock, a root or a stump, and he sat, calmly astride a big saddle horse, unaware of the impending disaster, until there was a jolt, a lurch of the entire load, a scraping, rending sound as the spindle dragged on the ground. Normally, he would have a spare linch pin in the box, and it would take only a couple of minutes for him to put a screw jack under the axle and slip the wheel on again; but woe was he if he had no spare. He would half to backtrack and search for the missing pin in a rut, a pile of leaves or pine needles.

The rear wheels were larger than the front wheels, some were up to 6 feet in diameter, depending on the size of the wagon. The real big wagons had a body 16 to 18 feet long and the top of the bonnet was 20 to 22 feet in length.

Since many creeks and rivers had to be forded in those days, the high wheels kept the precious load above the reach of the water. Also when a rut, a rock or gully was encountered, a big wheel would easily roll over, whereas a smaller one would be blocked and require a much harder pull by the team.

The wheels had hubs of Locust or Gum Wood, felloes and spokes of Hickory and were very heavy and sturdy. Some had felloes 5 inches wide and tires an inch in thickness.

Slung underneath the rear axle was a sturdy wooden pail, the "tar keg." This was the only lubricant used, and was also put on wounds of man and beast to keep away the blow flies.

Underneath the body, and securely lashed to the "reach", or "coupling" pole, was a long wooden trough. Whenever they stopped for the night, the teams were unhitched, the trough fastened to the top of the "wagon pole", or "tongue," the grain put into it, and six horses tied to it.

EARLY SCHOOL'S:

When the Iowa Territory became a state in 1846, their were some 43,122 white settlers with 1,077 persons of school age, residing in 27 Counties. The challenges of prairie living in the Territory seemed to bring out the best of ingenuity, intellect, perserverance and the desire to create a better life. The young families and the Territorial marriages soon changed the character of the population.

Subscription schools were started on a local basis. They were the outgrowth of community meetings and lumber for the school house and benches often had to be hauled many miles by team and wagon. Some of the schools were first held in dugouts, soddies, or tents.

Teachers were "certified" by taking county test and attending normal school. Often the teacher had little more than a grammar school education and some were only a little older than their students. This in no way deterred their ability to transmit knowledge of "Reading, Writing and Arithmetic" to their students.

The first school terms only lasted 2 or 3 months and the textbooks were brought by the children from home. They were books from from schools in many states, which were often the books used by their parents, or from the school they last attended.

Classes for eight grades were taught in one room and whispering or talking was prohibited. Understandable, when we think of this assortment of ages, books, abilities, and curriculum!

Recesses and lunch-time were memorable for the students. Lunches were carried in a "dinner-pail" which more often than not was a tin syrup bucket. It often consisted of bread and jelly sandwiches, a biscuit with a slice of chicken or ham, or perhaps just bread spread with lard. Water came from a bucket carried from the nearest well and sipped by all the children from a single tin dipper with a long handle.

With lunch over some of the older children enjoyed playing games in the school-yard such as "blind mans bluff", "blackman" (a tag game), "ante over", or "baseball" with a string ball and sticks. The smaller children played "ring-around-the-rosy", "two-deep", "jump rope" or "London Bridge".

School-houses sometimes doubled as churches on Sunday and hard shelled Baptists, Catholics, Christians, Lutherans, Methodists, and Presbyterians worshipped alongside each other. Later these thrifty pioneers soon assembled their own congregations and constructed buildings for their services.

The school-house also housed "ice-cream socials", "pie-suppers", and "literaries". The literary was a very popular social gathering. The young people found this a likely place to meet others of their age group and courtships often started with these events. A literary program would exhibit the talents of some of the community and was followed by a debate which stimulated thinking and sharp factual reasoning. Points were were scored for each presentation and rebuttal.

Dances were held in barns, living rooms cleared of furniture or in the school-house. They served as a benefit for some worthy project or as a companionable social gathering. Popular dances of the time were the "turkey trot", "one step", "cake walk", the "waltz", or a popular dance of the native country - "Czech polka", "Polish mazurka", "Irish jig", the "English quadrille" and the ever popular "square dance".

At these gatherings the pioneers discussed the weather, the amount of crops sowed, time of planting, health, methods of cooking, obtaining fabric for clothes, and other important matters to their daily lives. Courtships began and the young couples married and set up housekeeping. They were happy "in a mighty fine way, all things considered". They wrote by the flickering light of a coal oil lamp and to get a drink of water they hiked to a small stream or pumped water from their new well. Saturday night meant a bath in a wash tub with water heated on top of the stove in a tin wash boiler or in a reservoir at the end of the wood cook stove.

An inventory of these young married couples possessions might include a stove, tin wash boiler, two iron pots, teakettle, cast- iron skillet, griddle, bread pan, tin plates, coffee pot, coal oil lamp, tin dippers, white enamel wash bowl and pitcher, nails and a few tools. A trip to town was made for sugar, rice, salt and coffee. The life of the pioneer wife included laundry done in the creek with homemade lye and ashes soap. Flatiron were heated on the back of the wood burning stove and had a detachable handle to ensure constant heat by alternating irons. These heavy irons were used to slide across the yards of fabric in the ladies long skirts and gentlemen's stiff shirts.

Cast-iron (first Patent 1744) Franklin stoves for cooking and heating with sheet iron pipes to carry out the smoke were a modern convenience and a luxury. The tank at the end of the stove was kept filled with a buckets of water from the well to ensure a constant supply of hot water. The common fuel was "cow chips", "corn-cobs", and wood if could be found.

Food preparation might consisted of corn bread or biscuits, salt pork, black coffee, wild greens (such as polk), and the next meal often more of the same in these early years of settlement. The women helped plow, tote water and fuel, and grew a garden. They were also charged with keeping the family healthy with coal oil and sassafras tea.

Its interesting to note that almost half the food plants still grown in United States today were originally developed by the American Indians, according to Dr. RAYMOND B. FARNSWORTH, an agronomist at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

Among the many food plants developed by the Indians, Dr. FARNSWORTH says, were corn; potatoes; tomatoes; peppers; watermelon; beans; squash; pumpkins; sunflowers; artichokes; strawberries; blackberries; raspberries; gooseberries and grapes.

Newspaper clippings from the Clarinda HERALD -JOURNAL and the Page County DEMOCRAT.

WEDDING CAKE

One cup of butter, 2 of sugar, 3 of flour, 4 eggs, 1 pound of raisins, 1 pound of currants, 1/2 pound of citron, 1 teaspoon of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and 2 teaspoons of baking powder well mixed with the flour. Flavor with lemon. The fruit should be chopped fine and well mixed with flour. The cake will seem very stiff, but it is alright. Bake in slow oven.

BOUNDOIR CONFIDENCES

Rice cloth in pale colors is a pretty and inexpensive of fabric for home frocks. Something new are the deep collar and cuff sets striped horizontally with pale blue or pink. Chiffon voile comes in pale checks sprinkled with blue dots and bordered with three rows of valenciennes. Among silk ginghams are dark shaded effects that will make up almost like a soft shaded silk.

BEAUTY IN DISTRESS

Yesterday afternoon at 6:30 o'clock the Democrat man was shown a party standing on the sidewalk at the northeast corner of the square, apparently in a state of indecision amounting to dismay. Inasmuch as one of the ladies was young and dressed in white, it seamed a case for sympathetic assistance, and we sailed across the street prepared to offer the Democrat office as a place for the deed to be done, and to telephone for a minister of justice of the peace. The bridegroom-to-be, assisted by the best man, the bridesmaid, and the lady having the party in charge, charged off toward the courthouse in search of the probate judge or his clerk to get the license, leaving in the excitement of the moment, a somewhat confused and very interesting young lady (the bride) exposed to the questions of the reporter. In a few minutes her companions returned and explained that if they could possible reach the west bound passenger then standing at the depot, they would have the ceremony at Shenandoah, where an arrangement had been made and a parson was already agape for the fee. So they hiked to the depot and ye reporter, following at the discreet distance of three blocks, to be on hand in case of need, saw the party make a meteoric connection with the west-bound at the moment of starting, the five persons and numerous suit cases landing on the rear platform together. Good fortune go with them.

CHARIVARI

Another event which was a customary accompaniment to the wedding was the CHARIVARI. This was a visit by friends of the bride and groom, usually in the late evening, with a ride down main street in a wheel barrow for the bride and various tricks for the groom. It was generally aimed at causing embarrassment to the young couple and not held in highest regard by the general public. A quotation indicating their attitude is as follows:

"The citizens of the town were very much disgusted with the charivari Wednesday night. Carried on in the ordinary manner a charivari is considered all right but when one is begun a 3 o'clock in the morning and consists merely of firing off guns and kept up as this was for three-quarters of an hour it is considered very much out of place."

Some wedding's which provided much trauma and distress to all parties involved according to the the newspaper editor is recorded under these captions:

CUPID COME TO SORROW

Last Monday morning a young couple arrived in the City for the purpose of getting married. The ceremony was finally performed but the children got themselves into trouble. They were little more than children. The girl is just past her 15 year while the bridegroom is rounding out his 17 summer..... The girls father arrived here soon after the ceremony had been performed and had the young man placed under arrest. He was taken before Judge T. B. McALISTER and placed under a five hundred dollar bond for his appearance here on July 13. Her father did everything in his power to separate the couple and tried to persuade the erring girl to return home to no avail. They are still together and will remain so till the trial on the 13th. Just what will happen then remains to be seen. May their sorrow and trouble soon end and the sun shine of peace and happiness settle down upon them and may their pathway through life be strewn with roses.

HEBEAS CORPUS ACTION TO SECURE POSSESION OF ELOPING DAUGHTER

Claiming that his daughter is only 14 years of age a father brought habeas corpus proceedings against a young bridegroom. The girl objects to being recovered. The cause at issue turns upon the question of her age as the accusation is that her husband is unlawfully holding her. The paper is informed that an attempted prosecution for kidnaping her failed because she stated that she kidnaped him as much as he kidnaped her.

Witness testified that the father's reputation for truth and veracity was bad but it was revealed in cross examination that these witness had been sued by the father to collect past due accounts. The telephone operator testified that the father had stated in her hearing that if he got his daughter back he would kill her. The female county superintendent was called to the stand to testify to the girls age according to school records and this verified that she was actually 14. Plaintiff's attorney then requested time in which to look up authorities on the question of emancipation of infant children after marriage, and an adjournment was taken until Monday morning at 8 o'clock.

"The course of true love never runs smooth."

Source: Page Co., Iowa
Some Early Marriages 1850 to 1899
Compiled by Paul R. Sarrett, 7117 E. Clydesdale Ave.,
Orange Co., CA. 92667, Phone 714-771-8410 Copyrighted 1983-1989

Source & Reference: Section 8.

E-Mail: Paul R. Sarrett, Jr. Page Co., Coordinator