The Annals of Iowa Volume 39|Number 5 (Summer 1968) pps. 357-371 Memoir of the William Archer Family Margaret E. Archer Murray ISSN 0003-4827 No known copyright restrictions. Recommended Citation Archer Murray, Margaret E. "Memoir of the William Archer Family."The Annals of Iowa39 (1968), 357-371. Available at:https://doi.org/10.17077/0003-4827.7888 Hosted byIowa Research Online T A Place of Refuge 357 can travel by steamship from Buffalo to Sandusky and from there by train to Cincinnati and again from there by steam- ship to St. Louis. I cannot tell you what the price of freight is since I have not yet see the fare of the new railway. After the closing of the little account above, I received a letter from a farmer who lives in the state of Illinois opposite St. Louis. He is a Hollander by birth but has already lived in America for a number of years. Several weeks ago he visited our colony and observed everything. He was so pleased at the si^ht of this landscape that he decided to sell his farm in Illinois in order to come here this fall. He wants to buy a farm here and for this reason he wrote. Such facts speak much better for themselves than words and discussions can ever do. H. P. Schölte, MEMOIR OF THE WILLIAM ARCHER FAMILY By Margaret E. Archer Murray Tiie following history of the Archer Family was hand- written, in pencil, hy Margaret E. Archer Murray at the age of 87. A typed copy was made and submitted to the Aunáis /;(/ Murray Work of Des Moines, Iowa, grandson of the author. The punctuation, capitalization and spelling used hy Mr.s. Murray have remained unchanged for publication. The sketches accompanying this history were done for the Annals by William J. "Biir Wagner. Iowa architect and artist. Murray this is april 27, 193S I was S7 the 2nd of this month what I am telling you here i.s iu part from memory & from what mother told me years ago if I make some mistakes you will over look them expecily in spelling as I am quite deficient in education I do not know a great deal about my pearants earlv life 358 ANNALS OF IOWA William Archer my Father was bom January 25, 1811 was married to Elizabeth Bushong who was bom may 15, 1817 they were married September 15, 1837 they were the parents of 11 children 2 died in ehildliood one a few months old last 2 twins died at birth Father & mother both were born in Ohio claimed to be Penn Dutch but neither one could speak Dutch or german or even under stand it courtesy of Murray Work coiirlay of Murray Work Elizabeth Bushong Margaret Archer Archer Murray weU any way we are a good sturdy race of what ever we are Ï think both were born on farms as farming was what Father did all his life. They left Ohio in 1846 came to Iowa by team & covered wagon camped by road side all the way had 4 children youngest one year old. crossed the missippi on July 4, 1846 & went to where the town of Waterloo is now and took np some land I dont know how many achers Built a log housi. that fall not able to get a door tliey fastened a quilt in the opening to keep out the snow & as much cold wind as possable, the wolves came right up & howeld around Memoir of 359 the cabin at night, all the protecion motlier had when Father was away was an ax & the dog. as Father always took the gun with him for protecion & to kill what game he might find while chopping fire wood in timber they only stayed there one year as timber was sarce & tbe winter bitter cold. So they picked up & moved farther East & Soutli to Jones Go & took up or bought 160 achers of land about 4 miles South of anamosa & I think about 50 miles west of Davenport & where there was plenty of timlicr along the wapsapinican River which was about 3 miles East of us Davenport was their nearest market & it took 2 days with a team to go & 2 to return there they started their permenant home in the west Built & log house from memory I think it was about 20 feet each way had ;i door in South & window in North about 3 feet square on the East side were the beds 2 big beds & 2 trundle beds pulled out at night & under in day time with a curtain around the 4 post- er then on west side was a huge fire place made of rock & rock chimney & ehingcd with wet clay as was the whole house clay ï""*-, ^ ' chinking between the logs fire place was real wide with erain (crane) built in chimney so as to hang the cooking vessels they were all iron with iron lids iron teakettel & for baking bread had a large iron bake 360 ANNALS OF IOWA oven with lid always had big back log & smaller one In front had andirons in front to keep wood from rolling out when bake day came had a nice bed of coles to rake out on stone herth (hearth) then set tiie oven on them witb bread raised & ready put hot coals on top & we ate a lot of corn bread too but I dont think she could bake pie or cake & for supper we often had mush 6t milk, of course a part of our kitchen things were tin tk tliat had to be scoured evry Saturday or at least it was when 1 got big enough to do tiie scouring 1 can't remember if the house had a ptmceon (puncheon) floor was either that or boards the roof was coverd with clapbords. for li^ht at first we had grease r'i-vi lamps we had a shallow dish L»^ first took a soft rad twisted it ""*'' then dipped one end in melted lard layed that end up on side of dish pored the melted lard over that then it was ready to light mother did all her sewing & knitting by that & the light from the fire place & she sure had a lot of it to do as the 2 oldest children died in 49 a girl & boy just 5 days apart & sister Rebecca was only a year old all 5 children had Scarlet fever in that one room bouse Memoir of 361 mother made all our cloths by hand knit ail our stockii^gs & mittens by lamp light but later she made candles 6 at a time Set them aside & when they were cold enough to draw she would mold 6 more they raised sheep & in the Spring after the shearing was done she washed the fleeces then hand picked the wool to get out the burs & the like often had wool picking invite a few women for the day. after that the wool was sent to tlie carding machine & made into rolfs then mother had to spin it into yam then have that woven into cloth some for jeans for mens cloths & fiannel for us children a apart of the vam for kniting then she did all the coloring used madder to color red Indigo to eolor Blue peach tree leaves for green "dont rememWr what she used to color yellow we had a few black sheep & their wool was left in its natural color for mitens but for our Peticots & stockint^s we always had white yam I never wore colored stockings till after I was married. Sometime they would trade the wool for jeans Father & the boys eloths which mother cut & made I can remember Father had a store suit for Sunday only I have often wonderd how many years it lasted him. in the summer time the men wore white toe (tow) linen pants & blue & white stripe hickery shurting shurts now all these things had to have Inttton holes worked think of the stitches she took in those days and only had hooks & eyes & buttons for fastening our cloths no saftey pins or snapfasteners or zippers of cours that is a late thing, we used comon pins even the little babies had their three eomerd pants pinned on with comon pins. Murray I think of so many things to tell you I am Iikley to get some of them mixed in the telling Since I began this writing things came to mind I hadent thot of for the last liX) years. we always had plenty of clothing to keep up comfort ahle & plenty to eat we always had a great variety of meat for Father loved to hunt & in winter had time & at that time there was plenty of wild game such as Deer wild turkeys Praric chickens quailes & rabbits & in summer squirls & Buffalos was plenty but he never killed one he always used a kifle (rifle) in hunt- ing & our Pork barrel was never empty of pickeled meat with 362 ANNALS OF IOWA smoked hams & shoulders for summer use. we had a lot cattle & sheep but never killed any for meat always used a lot chick- ens any time we wanted then as they only brought $2.00 per doz Even when mother dressed them in winter & sent them to market & only 10c for roosters when they were over a year old late in the fall at butchering time they butcherd our next years meat & all the fat hogs we had to sell & Father took them to Davenport & sold them & layed in a big supply of groceries & things we needed in the way of material for mak- ing cloths it would take him 4 or 5 days to make round trip with team & all dirt roads & couldent go faster than a walk all day but about every 25 miles there would be a hostelry & tavem had large bams & big feed lots where one could drive in to feed k water or stay the night of course we had small towns with Post office Store BlackSmith Shop & the like, mother sold Butter Eggs & Beeswax & any tiling we could spare off the farm in the summer & fall we gatherd Black berries wild grapes & any thing we raised on the farm tliat would bring money or exchange for groceries She dident know a bout canning fruit or vegatables dried the fruit & berried the cabbage turnips beet & potatoes made sourkraut by the barrell put up our own pickles in salt and freshened tliem as we wanted to use them I think when I was real young we only grew tomatoes as anamament (ornament?) not to eat as for spreads for our bread always the year around we honey renderd & in the comb & maple syerip pumpkin butter & dried pumpkin for pies, we never bad many pies till we got a cook stove well speaking wild things to eat we chñ- dren began to roam the woods as soon as things began to ripen Brst was wild cherries choke cherries plumbs wild crabs black berries fit after frost came black haws were ready to eat but remember we never had a whole day off for play not even Ü day for we girls had to knit so many rounds on a stock- ing before we were alowed to go out that had to be done each day as soon as we learned to knit & we learned pretty young some things I can remember that happened when I was about 7 or 8 years old one was a Forest fire we lived about 3 miles west of the wapsiepiuecan river & it was be- tween us & the river Father & 2 boys were gone most of the time for about 4 days and nights fighting fire the smoke came Memoir of 363 up to our house till it almost chocked us at times & at night the sky was red as far as we could see men came to the house at any time to get a drink of water or milk & mother kept hot coffee & meat boiled & bread baked so they eould have some- thing to eat & some times they would lie down in the yard & sleep an hour do you know I can remember just how some of the men looked cloths toren into rags & faces & hands black from smoke &dirt So much of the timbr had been cut for wood & to make rails & the brush left in the timber till it was a dry mass of brush & dry leaves but no lives were lost as I remember & another thing happened at about that same time or a year later was a tornado I may have been 9 or 10 years old at that time this was a tomado the folks had gone to church on a Sunday after- noon the church was about Íí mile from our house built on one comer of the farm as they eame ont of church saw the storm eoming at a rapid pace we were then living in the 2 story frame house & they closed all the windows & doors but the house shook so we could feel it shake a man came with them & the men braced their shoulders against the doors & the windows the worst part of the storm was 3 miles sough (south) of us & the worst part of damage done was about 4 miles long & from 1 to lJá miles wide in that era (area) not a house barn or building of any kind was left standing, all tlie stock killed but not so many people as it being Sunday alot were away from home, great beams from houses were driven in the ground 3 & 4 feet you know those times we dident have clyelones or twisters as we call them tliese days and we always expected our storms & floods in the month of June I have digressed a little from the way we fanned our crops were com & wheat a large meddow for hay just wheat enough to bread the family & pay take to have it ground as it took so much work to get it ready for })read the crop bad to be eut by hand with a cradle that was real hard work swinging a cradle all day the sheaves were bound by hand, you picked up a hand full of the eut straws for a binder & if tlie wheat wasent tall enough had to make a double band then it was shocked when all was in shock it was hauled to the slacking 364 ANNALS OF IOWA ground near the stable & tlie thrashing floor was made ready for thrashing a big round ring was scraped with hoes till the ground was clean & hard then the wheat was layed around that with the heads hiping & the buttes of the sheaves out 2 such rijigs side by side was layed then tramped out with horses going round & round till all the wheat was tramped out I cand discribe a thr;rhin<j floor so vou will understand but some day I can show you just how it was done but the horse on the in side had a bridle & the other one a halter witb lead strap well I couldent of been more than 6 or 7 years old when I was elected for the job of riding on the thrashing floor rode the in side horso and led the other one poor little me I rode and cryed & cryed & rode but to no avale had to do my share of what I was able to do that was supposed to be an easy job well I some times droped a sleep & slid off or the boys to hurry the horses would punch a horse with the fork handle he wonld jump & ofï I would flap they would take me by one arm and leg up I would go again we all did our share of work big ik little they used a pitch fork to tum the wheat over as it thrashed out and take the straw away then gathered up the grain clean it in the wind mill turned by hand then it was ready to take to mill & made in to bread stuff flour not bolted & middlings or shorts we used that for mursh & brand for cow feed always had spring wheat now in raising eom first plowed the ground then borrowed it then marked the rows with single shouble plow one way Memoir of 365 across the field tiien across the otiier way then it was ready tor planting Father marked the rows & us children that was oid enough to cary a gallon bucket of corn followed and (hoped from 3 to 5 grains in the cross & one of the bovs fol- lowed ^^ith a hoe & coverd it then in time it was cultivated with smgle shoudel then in the fall it was out & shocked later hauled to the stable & husked „ut as needed corn for horses & fodder for cattle. in making hay the grass was all cut by hand with a sythe very often neighbor men helped each otiier in harvest time as I remember they would lay off a land about what thev could cut in one day the hay had to be turned over to drv then put up in what was called a hay cock when the meadow was a 1 cut & up the hay was hauled to the stable and stacked mostely m long ricks for winter use our stock was kept on pasture as late in the fall as possible to save feed I use the word stable in place of barn all farm buUdings ^^'ere built with logs & cov- erd with .slough grass the roofs were shed roof slant- ing one way then poles were layed on this tall grass put on beginning at ^ ^^^ -w n..T^»^, a^ , ^^'^ bottom a laping over as thfy went up to top of roof we had horse stable cattle .shed sheep .shed ho^ .shed & if I remember rightly the chickens roosted on trees^ & fences or where ever they could and these grass roofs lasted for years as slough grass was coarse & grew taU it doesent seem pos- sible when I think of the way folks lived then of how few things they had to get along with & make a living or the hard work tiiey had in comparison to what we have now we mitrht say in about 90 years time any way my folks lived in these suroundings till 1859 or 60 then fatiier built 2 story house had 5 rooms 3 down & 2 up stairs but there could of been 9 good sized rooms any way we had plenty of room & a cellar size of house rock foundation starting at bottom of cellar rock floor in cellar rock chimney & big fire place in front room