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From: <>
Subject: Fwd: TIP# 92 - THE KENTUCKY MAN
Date: Thu, 9 Oct 1997 09:45:24 -0400 (EDT)

This is a little long, but sure cleared up a few things for me. If you
remember sometime back Sandi had a tip called THE KENTUCKY WOMAN.

Pat
---------------------
Forwarded message:
From: (Sandi Gorin)
To:
Date: 97-10-09 09:24:23 EDT

TIP#92 - THE KENTUCKY MAN

A few weeks ago, I took a look with you at
the Kentucky Woman. Today,
to give equal time to our male readers, we'll
take time out from our lists
of names and events in Kentucky, to paint a
word picture of the Kentucky
Man. Oh, how it must have been in the early
settlement days of our
beautiful Commonwealth! On my first trip to the town
where I now call
home, I walked down the quiet old streets at a time when
the world was
hushed. It was easy to remember all the old pioneer settlers
here and
what amazement they would feel if they could but take a quick look
at the
way it now is.

The Kentucky Man, unlike many of his Virginia
counterparts, was not
blessed with the prestige, money or niceties that
perhaps his relatives
had enjoyed. Yes, many moved into Kentucky "well
situated," however, the
majority of our early fathers, grandfathers and
young men coming into our
state, were those who came with the provisions
they could carry on their
wagons and little else. They did not dress for
success; they dressed for
life!

The attire of the Kentucky Man was
one of plainness but neatness.
After the Revolutionary War through which the
country had just passed,
there was only the home "manufactories" - often
called crude at that. All
the lovely goods from the Old World had been cut
off and the new Americans
soon learned that if they needed something, they
made it themselves. The
pioneers were noted for their strong backs and their
stong hearts and even
though the Kentucky Woman was holding down her part of
the bargain with
all the work that she was expected to do, the Kentucky man
was not sitting
idly by. They soon learned that fancy clothes and jewelry
did not bring in
the crops, clear the forests and put food on the table.

A cloth coat and pantaloons were soon found to be the best dress
in
which to roll logs, burn brush or plough. In the summer, the men
dressed
in flax or tow linen, or striped cotton for breeches, coat and
waistcoat,
and in the winter, they switched to woolen jeans or linsey. Some
wore buck
skin hunting shirts and pantaloons, or hunting shirts made out of
cotton
and linen. Shoes were practical, generally red shoes or
"stitch-downs"
and one seldom saw a pair of boots. Wool hats protected the
men in the
winter and straw ones were in vogue for the hot sweltering summer
months.
Occasionally, one would see a hat made of bear, fox or coon skin,
and yes,
the tail did hang down behind for an ornament. Some of the men wore
short
breeches as they were called, with silver knee buckles. The hair
styles
would often include queues ... a holdover from earlier years.
These
descriptions above came from the writings of Franklin Gorin here in
Barren
Co. William Daniel Tolle, another historian, further describes the
attire
of our sirefathers as an undershirt and jacket, a pair of drawers
or
breeches and leggins. Moccasins were also worn by many men made
from
deerskin. They all wore a wallet which held bread, cakes or provisions
of
some kind with a belt which was fastened behind. He carried often
a
tomahawk and a scalping knife.

The Kentucky Man had a lot to
think about when he settled a new
homestead. Depending upon the type of land
he chose determined how much
work lie in store for him. The Revolutionary
War soldiers who had been
awarded land in Kentucky for their service were
allowed what was called
"first class land." This was simply land that had a
waterway; creek or
river, next to it and the land was fertile and rich. The
majority of the
settlers then had to buy land that was rated "second" or
"third" class -
rocky in most instances; some barren fields of wild grasses;
some heavy
timber. The laws said that he had to raise a crop and put up
some sort of
a structure before he could be considered a legal landowner.
So, many
times, the Kentucky Man came here alone and cleared a field,
planted a
crop of corn, erected a little structure and then went back home.
He would
return later to harvest the crop, this time likely bringing his
family
with him.

Before cabins could be built, many of our
Kentucky Men provided home
sweet home in the style of a wooden tent; it
could be used in traveling
until they could build an official structure. It
was made simply of round
logs and poles as they were found in the forest.

The next step in settling this "bloody ground" of Kentucky was
the
clearing away of the land. They had simply an axe, a matlock and a pair
of
iron weges and a wooden mail. The saw had not be in use yet. Trees
were
chopped off down into logs 10-12 feet long, rolled together and burned.

The matlock was used for digging up grubs or bushes and the wedges
for
splitting rails. A set of tools were used for breaking and
cultivating
the land - one being a gopher or bull tongue plow which was
about 6 inches
wide. The wider plow was called a shovel plow. A broad hoe,
or weeding
hoe, was used to clear the ground further.

If the Kentucky
Man wanted livestock, which they needed for their own
food, one must
remember that the livestock was not our common domesticated
animals of
today. There were no sheds and fences at first and the
livestock roamed the
grounds and into the timber. The cattle died
frequently from exposure and
the hogs were definitely not like Porky Pig.
They were wild, and they were
mean. The latter were known as sand diggers
or razor backs.

When
it came to vehicles to be used by the Kentucky Man, there was
not a John
Deere in the barn. They made do with a slide or sled. Some
wagons were
brought from Virginia and surrounding states but most people
could not
afford one.

When harvest time came, the Kentucky Man and many times
the entire
family, had plenty to do. The principal crop in Kentucky in the
beginning
was Indian corn. In a few years they would grow flax and cotton
-
necessary for making their clothing. Tobacco soon became an important
crop
which continues to this day in most areas of Kentucky.

Then
there was the hunting. The lands teemed with the wild animals
and it was the
Kentucky Man's responsiblity to keep the family fed. Bears,
wolves, cougars,
deer - the forests were full of them. The wild turkeys
and other game birds
were in abundance. Everything the man killed or grew
was used by the family
as there was no import/export business in Kentucky
early unless the settler
lived in the major cities (if they could be so
called) that had access to
rivers. If an animal was killed, it was for
food. If a crop was grown, it
was for food. Smoke houses as separate
structures were built to preserve the
meat.

Cabin building itself was a tedius, long affair. Hopefully, I
can
later do an article on how this was done. Even though neighbors were
often
many miles away, and there was but little time for idle chat,
the
neighbors looked out for each other. They helped when it came to a
cabin
raisings, log rollings and clearing the forests.

The cabin
was far from a mansion, but it was well constructed and
provided great
protection. Floors were non-existent in most of them, just
the dirt. Men and
women were always on the alert during the night for
snakes which crawled in
and had to be killed for the safety of their
family. Indians were still a
threat, wild animals had to be watched out
for.

In between all the
"domestic" duties of the Kentucky Man, he was also
expected to be involved
in the governmental affairs of the new territory.
Towns had to be laid out
soon, officials elected to the county and circuit
offices. Meetings had to
be attended to - most likely many miles from
their cabin and meaning a long
horse back ride into "town." Courthouses
needed to be built, jails,
churches. Schools were little thought about in
the early settling days, what
education the children received came from
the family and involved primarily
the most basic facts or something to do
with the farm. The Kentucky Man
also served on juries (a call was made
for 12 honest men of the community),
they conducted inquests over dead
bodies (to testify as how they thought the
individual died). He also had
to create most of the dishes and cooking
utensils for his family if they
were not fortunate enough to bring a good
supply with them. Horses had to
be broken to ride, surveys had to be made
of the land ... it was a long
tedius job for anyone! The Kentucky Man's day
began before the crack of
dawn and by the time the candles were lit in the
little cabins, their
bodies were drained and exhausted. The life expectancy
of these early men
were often much shorter than today - a man who died in
this 50's was not
unsual and were spoken of as being "aged." They had just
worn themselves
out.

So, when you see that typical postcard view of the
Kentucky hillbilly and
his "old lady", rocking on the front porch of a
run-down shanty, have
mercy on them. They deserved that one precious time
alone - children in
bed finally, chores all done for the day, the crops put
in, the buildings
built for the day , yes - they deserved to "sit a
spell."

(c) Copyright 9 October 1997, Sandra K. Gorin, All Rights
Reserved.

><{{{{{o> Sandi Gorin
<o{{{{{><

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