Teachers in Earlier Times

Much was expected from teachers in the 1800's, especially in rural areas and very small towns. The rules varied from place to place, because the regulations were made by the local school boards, but there were some common ones that appeared in most locations. 

Often teachers had to live in the homes of their students and were expected to attend church on Sunday. The school boards also regulated how far they could travel without asking the board, and some wouldn't allow them to leave the town or county without special permission.

 Besides teaching all grade levels, teachers were also expected to keep the school neat and clean and do janitorial duties. This included tasks like keeping lanterns filled and their chimneys clean and maintaining a fire during the cold months from 7 a.m. until school dismissed, all without any extra pay. 

If any teacher was seen smoking, drinking liquor, playing billiards, gambling, or sometimes even getting a shave in a barber shop for men, they would be dismissed. Men were likely granted one evening a week for courting purposes.

Women were a different story. If they were seen keeping company with men who weren't related, they could be dismissed. They were not allowed to marry and keep their positions. In fact, they usually had to be home during the hours of 8 p.m and 6 a.m., unless they had a school function to attend. They were never to dress in bright colors, must wear two petticoats at all times, and have dresses that came nearly to the ankles. 

You might wonder why, coupled with the low pay, communities didn't have a harder time finding teachers. For one thing, for a long time, this was one of the few occupations acceptable for an unmarried woman.

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Delicious Apple Desserts

Apple Bread Pudding

8 slices bread
4 apples
1 1/4 cups milk
5 eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup melted butter or margarine
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease small, rectangular baking dish. Toast bread just enough to make dry. Cut each slice into 6 pieces. Arrange a single layer of bread in the bottom of dish. Peal, core and slice apples. Reserve one apple's slices. Place the remaining slices over the bread layer. Sprinkle raisins on top. Place remaining bread pieces in two rows and put the one apple's slices between the rows. Combine milk, eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, and spices in a bowl, Beat and pour over bread and apples. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar over the top. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until firm enough.

Apple Crisp
1 quart cooked but firm apple slices, drained
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup white sugar (more if tart apples)

1/4 cup brown sugar 
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup flour
1 stick margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar 
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup chopped pecans
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together first 6 ingredients. Pour into greased baking bowl. Melt margarine and add remaining ingredient, mixing well. Pour over apple mixture. Bake at 375 degrees until top is lightly brown.

Apple Rice Pudding
2 cups cooked rice

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups half and half or whole milk
2 beaten eggs
2 medium apples, pealed, cored, and cut into slices then halved
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and blend in sugar, vanilla and cinnamon in a shallow pot or pan. Add apples, cover, and cook slowly about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally until apples are just tender. Mix milk and beaten eggs. Stir in rice. Gently blend in apple mixture. Bake about 20 minutes until pudding looks set and slightly browned on top.

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Living the Real Christian Life

I am reading Andrew Murray's Power in Prayer, and I'm having a

hard time putting it down. It has so many crucial points for the Christian. Murray writes, "We find the Christian life difficult because we seek for God's blessings while we live according to our own will." Take a moment and think about this. Isn't it true? We take so much upon ourselves - to provide for ourselves and our families, to care for those we love, to be successful in our work, to make a name for ourselves, to win affection, to solve the world's problems through our political stands, etc. All of this is contrary to Biblical teachings and in

opposition to God's will. He wants us to rely on Him, to turn everything over to Him. When He directs our lives, we will be responsible, and those around us will be better off. We need to have a deep abiding faith in our Lord, surrender our lives to Him, establish a close, personal relationship, and trust in Him without reservation. We look to the characters in the Bible who did this as Fathers of the Faith. Yet, we fail to follow their example.

Murray goes on to mention that we make plans and choices on our own and then expect God to bless them. But, if we relate to the Lord in the right way, we will be at His disposal.

"...Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10).
"...not my will, but thine, be done" (Luke 22:42).

Our lives will be so much richer and fuller, when we follow His directives. Our burdens will be lifted from us, and we will have peace and joy, despite the circumstances.

Prayer holds it all together. Our lack of prayer shows a lack of faith and indicates we have little desire to fellowship and talk with God. When we invited Christ into our lives, we gave Him our hearts and lives, and He took away our sins. Now we belong to Him, but we need to quit wanting to take back control. We should realize He does a much better job of directing our lives than we do.

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding, In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths? (Proverbs 3:5-6).

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Candlewicking

Candlewicking is an often little known form of embroidery. It

Center design on a bedspread

began early in Europe and became especially popular among Englishwomen in the 1600's, where they made beautiful bedspreads on twilled linen using a series of French knots. Common designs included vines, flowers, grape clusters, and fruits. The skill traveled to America about that same time, but it didn't become popular in the colonies until the 1700's.

It got it's name from where women began to substitute the cord bought for candlewicks, which didn't require them to use multiple threads together to achieve a noticeable knot. Still, over the years, women would wind threads together for candlewicking in order to use what they had on hand.

Border design on a bedspread

Traditionally, most candlewicked spreads where white on white or often with both thread and cloth being a natural color. However, a few were stitched with colored threads. I remember my mother making one with purple grapes and green leaves and vines. It wore out long ago, however.

Most candlewickers I know used an old candlewicked piece to lay a new cloth over and mark the design by rubbing over the design

with something that would show for them to stitch and later wash out. Tailor's chalk worked well if they had it. If not, they improvised. Later on, Mom would use a pencil to freehand dots on squares for quilts or throw pillows. She also candlewicked small gift towels and other items. A dark drawing or coloring book page could be placed under the white cotton and dotted in a similar way. 

Candlewicked quilt squares

Years ago, my great aunt in the Stony Fork section of Watauga County, NC, had some of her work hanging on a clothesline to dry or sun. A visitor in the area noticed them and asked her to make some to send to his museum shop in New York. Later other relatives joined her, and this became an important source of income for them.

Candlewicking is an easy craft to learn with beautiful results. Some of you might want to give this historical craft a new try.

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Grist Mills

Early grist mills often used water power to grind grains into flour

Mabry Mill, photo by Ken Christison

or meal. A large water wheel turned, generating the power to turn cogs and stones to grind the grains. There was also a simpler, more direct method, without cogs, that was used in the small, home grist mills that dotted remote areas, like the Appalachians. The history of such mills go back into medieval European history. The Doomsday Report from 1086, reports about one water-driven grist mill for each 300 residents in England.

Cornmeal was the most common product in America, because corn grew in more regions than wheat, but flour was often preferred. Other grains, like buckwheat and rye, could also be used.


In Cleared for Planting, Edgar's uncle owns a grist mill in the Meat Camp area. In order to earn some money and save to buy land to farm, Edgar goes there to work in the fall, after all the crops are in. because that's when their

Mill cog at Bost Grist Mill 

milling business is the heaviest. 

There are still gristmills scattered about today, and some of them operate as a tourist attraction, allowing you to buy products from the mill. Look in your area and see if there are any available, so you can enjoy a taste of an earlier time.

Bost Mill in Cabarrus County, NC

Wilkesboro and the Appalachian Roots Series

(Photo by Amber Speight)

When Cleared for Planting opens in 1804, the Appalachian mountain area where Edgar lives and Emma moves is still part of Wilkes County. Watauga County won't be formed until 1849, which means the second book in the series, Sown in Dark Soil, will also be set in Wilkes.

Since Wilkesboro is the seat of Wilkes County, that's where the jail

and court house were located. When Edgar finds Emma gone, he wants to go down the mountain to Wilkesboro to get a posse to track her down because he feels she would have never left by choice, but he finally realizes his father is right, and they don't have enough to go on. They had no idea where to look.

The town of Wilkesboro was founded in 1778 by the legislature when the county was formed, but there had been settlers in the area even earlier. Lots in the town were sold in 1800, and the town took much the same shape as its center section has today. (These dates often vary, because it depends on what the writer judges as what constitutes the point when a town begins.)

During the Revolutionary, Benjamin Cleveland and others, hanged

Tory Oak Junior

Tories on an oak tree growing on what would become courthouse property. The tree became known as the Tory Oak. It was alive and well as I grew up in Wilkes County, and remained in place during my college years and two years of teaching in Wilkes. However, the tree became old and diseased, and a new little tree was transplanted from it. Today, we have the young oak tree that I knew as "Tory Oak Junior" growing close to where the original grew.

The courthouse and the jail have changed through the years as better facilities were needed. The first courthouse was a log structure, but it was moved back to give way to a brick building. The current old courthouse building, which was used for the courthouse until 1998, now houses the Wilkes Heritage Museum, a wonderful place to keep and display the history of the area.

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Making Butter

Antique rocker churn

Making butter is not as hard as some might think. You don't even have to have a churn, although one does help if you're making a larger quantity. However, many have made butter by shaking the milk in a tightly closed jar. Sitting in a rocking chair and briskly rocking can also help.

Crockery churn without the dasher

My mother first made butter this way, but she soon used a churn with a dasher. The handle to the dasher would be pulled up and pushed down until butter began to form. There were other kinds of churns, like the rocker churn, crank churn, and finally the electric churn. On the last, my mother used an electric churn. It fit on top of a crockery churn, the small electric motor drove its dasher at a much faster rate than the hand could pump one, and the butter came quickly.

To make the best butter, you need to save the thickest cream from 

Butter mold

the top of fresh (not homogonized) milk that has set for a while. Agitate it until lumps of butter form. Scoop the butter out with your hand or a large serrated spoon leaving the buttermilk. Rinse in cold water as you knead it. When the water runs clear instead of milky, add a pinch of salt if desired and press into small bowls or use a butter mold to form uniform portions. Keep refrigerated.

During much of recent history, butter fell out of vogue, because research indicated its fats might be harmful to our health. However, new information suggests butter might be as good for us as margarine, if not better. Maybe we should start churning again.

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