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PIONEER RESIDENT HASREACHED S5TH MILESTONE.Aunt Susanna Jewell, who Came to Sullivan County in 1831 from Kentucky, Talks of Olden Times.Aunt Susanna Jewell, one of the pioneer women of this county, who now resides with her daughter, Mrs.Charles E. Hood, near Hillsdale,*Ind., recently celebrated her 85th birthday anniversary, and received a large nuniber of greeting cards from many friends and relatives in this county.Notwithstanding her advanced years, Aunt Susanna vividly recalls many of the incidents and customs of the pioneer days. She was born in Bullit county, Kentucky, April 2, 1827, and came to Sullivan county with her parents .in 1834, settling near the Rusher settlement, where they built a log cabin with slab floor and mud and stick chimney. In speaking of. the pioneer days, Mrs. Jewell said it was a very common thing to hear the howl of the wolf and it was necessary many times to build fires on stumps and logs to keep the wolves away from the sheep. One time a brother of Mrs. Jewelf'killed a wolf that measured 7 1-2 feet from the point ofits nose to the end of its tail. Wagons with wheels made of blockssawed off of large trees and with wooden axles were the only vehicles in use, except the sled which was used in the winter. Mrs. Jewell's father was Daniel Clark and he was a wheelwright by trade, making large and small spinning wheels and chairs for the people of this county. The nearest school house was five miles from the Jewell home. Benjamin Sherman, the grandfather of the late T. K. Sherman, taught the first school in Had-don township.the wheat crop before the threshing machine was known was a crude and tedious process.. The largest crop raised was about two acres. The grain was spread out on the ground and then a bunch of horses were made to tramp out the grain, j The collars used on horses in that i day were made out of corn husks. Deer and wild turkey were plentiful and furnished a great part of i the meat used by the people in the pioneer days.The head of the household made the shoes worn by the family and the women spun the flax and made it into clothing. Mrs. Jewell says her father taught his children to read and spell. The process of canning fruit was unknown and apples, peaches and pumpkins were dried for the winter’s use. Pickleswere unknown, as was also the case with tomatoes and other vegetables. Hogs and cattle were allowed to run at large as there was no fencing. Stock were marked with slits in their ears. The first cane Mrs. Jewell ever saw was raised by her father-in-law from seed purchased at Terre Haute. He paid $2.50 for a little package of seed similar to a package of lettuce seed now on sale at the stores. Mr. Jewell made an old wooden mill to grind the cane, and the juice was boiled in kettles over a log fire. Later the people learned to construct furndces for that purpose.Mrs. Jewell’s surviving children are as follows: Mariah Brock, who resides near Dana; Lydia A. True-blood of Sullivan county; Elizabeth C. Jewell of Indianapolis; Bailey Jewell of Essex* Mo.; William S. Jewell of Hunt, Mo.; Thomas A. Jewell of Clifty, Ark., and Mary E. Hood of Hillsdale, Ind.BOARD MAKES RULING.In reply to a question from the Sullivan school authorities regard-HYoni(ofdieU. Fa injpaii wa coi ofthi buHy
Newspaper Details
Sullivan Union
Sullivan, Indiana, US
Wed, Apr 17, 1912
Page 1
Full Page
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Library O.
MI, USA 12 Jun 2022
Other Publications Near Sullivan, Indiana
Sullivan Times
Sullivan Evening Times
Sullivan Democrat
Sullivan Daily Times
Sullivan County Union
