Last issue of the “Crier” we talked about what Henry McNeal and Joel Thompson faced when they first appeared in what is now Hampton. We left them with their log cabins built, McNeal’s where the Soldier’s Monument now stands beside the Village Hall, and Thompson’s about 3 blocks further north on the river side of the Galena Trail (now 1st Avenue).
They did not remain the only settlers long. Several other families moved into the area. A significant one was Rinnah Wells with his 10 children. He came from Deerfield, Massachusetts via Cincinnati, Ohio; Shawneetown, Illinois; and Fairfield, Illinois before getting here in 1828. That family caused a huge increase in the population. Among Rinnah’s children was Lucius Wells, 25 years old and destined to become arguably the most significant person in early Hampton. More important to Henry and Joel were 23 year old Nancy and 15 year old Louisa. In due time Joel commenced courting Nancy and Henry courted Louisa.
When we speak of pioneers we generally talk about the male portion of the human race but the feminine half was vitally important and deserve having their story told. Think about what had to be done, Joel and Henry had to keep the wood piles replenished to accommodate the ever increasing numbers of steam boats. But they also had to plant, cultivate, and harvest crops to have something to eat. Hunting and fishing needed to be done, not for sport but out of necessity. We can say that the early settlers were all farmers. Theirs was a subsistence agriculture, to serve their own needs. It was later that people could raise enough to sell the surplus and make money. Not only that, it enabled some people to be in occupations other than agriculture. An example was Francis Black. He came in 1841 and by then it was possible to make a living without growing food yourself. Also, there became ever increasing products that could be purchased to make life easier.
Getting back to the ladies: Henry married Louisa in 1831. Joel married Nancy, the year is not recorded but it had to be close to the above date. What did these new brides have to face? The answer is simple, a life of great toil. In the beginning they lived in log cabins. Picturesque, but not particularly easy to live in. In addition to household tasks these newlyweds would have to work side by side with their husbands in the fields. They would be responsible for the family garden. Very likely cared for the cattle, milked the cows, and many other chores. All this with being pregnant much of the time,
The household chores themselves were not easy. For example, the washing which was done generally once a week. First off, the woman had to make her own soap. The ingredients for soap were water, fat, and lye. The fat was obtained from the butchered animals. This ordinarily took place in the Fall, so that is usually when enough soap was made to last a year. Both hogs and cattle were butchered and a half and half mixture of hog fat and beef tallow was considered perfect, though there were numerous recipes for soap, some passed down secretly in families. When the animal was butchered the fat was cut off and went through a process called rendering which was simply heating it until it melted and then straining it. Making the lye was a much more complicated process. The main ingredient was wood ashes, which were plentiful since this was the onlyl fuel available. The ashes were placed in a wooden barrel that had a hole drilled in the side, close to the bottom. The barrel was placed on supports, high enough so a pot or crock could be placed below the drain hole. The bottom of the barrel was filled with straw to serve as a strainer. Then the barrel was filled with wood ashes, packed tightly. The tighter the packing the higher quality the lye, though it prolonged the process. Water was poured into the ashes and replenished as it seeped away. It could take days before the lye came out of the drain hole. It was then combined with the fat and heated at a low temperature, 95 to 98 degrees. If you wanted to be fancy, at this point you could add some coloring or scents, though I doubt if Nancy or Louisa had time for this in the early days. The liquid was poured into molds and you had your soap.
As we said, the laundry was done once a week and the clothes were usually boiled in a mixture of water and soap. Items were scrubbed on a washboard when necessary. A far cry from our automatic washers. The women not only had to milk the cows they had to churn the butter, another weekly chore. Apples were squeezed for their juice which was placed in sealed containers for the winter. Some was left unsealed for the chemical reaction that resulted in vinegar.
We have only touched on a few of the chores a pioneer woman would have been responsible for. There is one more we will touch on: childbearing! If you gals reading this had been living back then you would probably have been pregnant every two years. Rinnah Wells had 10 children. Son Lucius had 12. This was typical. It was also typical that only half of these children would live to maturity. Illness was frequent in pioneer times. Medical care was nonexistent. There was no doctor in Hampton until the 1850’s. We have written a column about the huge stock of patent medicines at Black’s Store. Before that there were only some homespun remedies that may or may not have been effective. In the early days a woman was lucky if she lived close enough to a neighbor to have help delivering the baby. If not—you were on your own, baby, along with your husband. Most men are notoriously poor at this job. Disease was rampant. Typhoid fever, smallpox, cholera, and many lesser killers made appearances.
One last comment. If you gals had been living back then, by the time you were 30 you would probably have lost half, if not all of your teeth. The frequent pregnancy drained calcium from the system, though they didn’t know that at the time.
So, I believe it is fair to say that the burden carried by the pioneer woman was, in many ways, greater than that carried by the man. Unlike today, female life spans were short. Nancy Wells Thompson died at age 37, Louisa Wells McNeal died at age 35. There is a picture in existence of Louisa in “old age”. She looks like a modern woman of 60 to 70. If any of you lady readers feel dissatisfied with your lot in life, it would be well to consider what it would have been like 150 years ago.