Even though, Daniel was a tailor having learned his trade as a young man
in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, he took up 80 acres where the family first resided.[1] Daniel obtained a deed for this
land in section 9 and stayed there for many years.
Farming was hard, hands on work,
using the crudest implements. The most
important piece of farming equipment was the plow, consisting of an iron share
and wooden mould-board. Plows broke up
the ground and turned the soil in preparation for planting. A full day’s work was required to plow one or
two acres of land. Plows were expensive
pieces of equipment. A farmer lucky
enough to own one would hire it out to those without one in exchange for labor
or goods. In order to break through the native soil, a yoke of oxen drew the
plow. The next step required a harrow to
break up the dirt clumps, preparing the soil for seeds. Boys usually planted the corn, one dropping
the seeds in the ground and three following behind to cover the seeds with rich
brown earth. Occasionally farmers hired
girls as well to help cover the corn.[2] Sometimes the local farmers would plant corn
in the sod without cultivation. [3]
Homemade tools included hoes, rakes, spades, pitchforks, grain cradles and
heavy unwieldy picks.[4]
Harvest time was a social time as
farmers joined together to gather in the crops with a reap hook swung by hand.[5] A jug of whiskey (about 18 to 20 cents a
gallon at that time) provided by the farmer passed freely among the
harvesters. All helped in the harvest, men,
women and their children. Threshing was
a slow and laborious process. Cattle
trampled the wheat stalks or it was beat by hand with a flail. Flails consisted of two sticks attached by a
short chain. The thresher swung the
flail, beating the wheat stalks with the attached stick to loosen the husks thus
releasing the wheat grain.[6]
This repetitive and arduous process
surely caused the Higgins family muscle soreness and fatigue. The corn shocks were hauled into a barn to
wait for the harsh weather of wintertime, when the “young people went from farm
to farm in the evening making a party out of husking. The person who husked a red ear – and there
were many red ears in the days before standardized hybrid corn – got to kiss
his or her sweetheart.”[7]
Most farms in 1850 averaged 160 acres
in size with 25 - 40 improved acres. The
three major crops were corn, potatoes and wheat. They grew the corn to feed their pigs. Swine and wheat were the main cash crops. Farmers sold their dressed pork to Quincy,
IL, hauling by horse or oxen to the market.[8] The
potato crops were for their own use; it was a staple for almost every meal and
stored well for use during the winter months.
Milk cows provided fresh milk, sweet butter and rich cream. Most had a smoke house to preserve their
pork. Tools and produce, rather than animals,
were stored in the barns.[9]
1844 was a hard year for the farmers
in Brooklyn. The La Moine River,
commonly known as the Crooked River, flooded the area. Daniel lost his entire crop. Only one farmer’s crop survived the “High
Water of 1844”, a Mr. Brickman who succeeded in saving his corn. [10]
The Agricultural Census report of
1850 showed Daniel had thirty-three acres of improved land meaning he had cleared the land for grazing, grass or
tillage. His remaining forty-seven acres were left in their natural state. He
owned four horses, five milk cows, six heads of cattle (besides the milk cows)
and twenty pigs. He reported producing seventy-five
bushels of wheat and 200 bushels of Indian Corn (feed corn). The farm produced sixty lbs of wool but no
sheep were mentioned on the census. Five
hundred pounds of butter was produced during the year and they slaughtered $75
(equivalent to $1,600 in the year 2000)[11] worth of
animals probably for their own use. They
manufactured $31 ($680) worth of home made products during the year but the
type of product is not specified. The
cash value for the farm was $400 ($8,700), he had $60 ($1300) invested in
farming equipment and owned $265 ($5,800) worth of livestock.[12]
By 1850, most if not
all, of the farming was handled by John
(20), Jackson (18) and Christopher (15) leaving Daniel free to pursue his first
career as a tailor. The older boys
attended the Center Ridge School that year.
The younger boys, Henry (eight) and James (six) did not attend school in
1850 but undoubtably had chores to do as well.[13] The expectation was that everybody worked. Children, ages
nine and up, joined the adults in rising before sunrise, to do chores, back in
for breakfast at 5:30 a.m. before hitting more chores at 6:00 a.m.
[2]
Museum, Schuyler County, 231
[3]
Howard F. Dyson, “Had Crude Farm Implements”,
Rushville Times 1918, http://schuyler.illinoisgenweb.org/OldTimesInSchuyler/OTISfarmimplements.html (accessed April 10, 2013)
[4] Jennifer Carrel,“ Agriculture Implements From Conner Prairie’s Collection”, Conner Prairie Interactive
History Park, http://www.connerprairie.org/Learn-And-Do/Indiana-History/Artifacts-And
Collections/Argricultural-Tools.aspx (accessed May 8, 2013)
[5]
Schuyler County Jail Museum, Schuyler County Illinois History (Rushville,
IL, 1983), 7
[6]
Antique Farm Tools, “Corn Flail”, Tools 1-99, http://www.antiquefarmtools.info/page5.htm,
(accessed on June 10, 2013)
[7] Kari Landenberger, ”Tracing
Crop RotationsThrough Time: A Search for Sustainability”, Senior Environmental Studies Research Project 2005, (St Olaf
College Northfield, MN,)
http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/environmental-studies/courses/es-399%20home/es-399-05/Projects/Kari's%20Senior%20Research%20Project/history.htm,
(accessed on May 8, 2013)
[8]
Museum, Schuyler County, 231
[9] Living History Farms, Urbandale, IA,
http://www.lhf.org/en/visit/farm_sites/1850_pioneer_farm/ (accessed on May 8, 2013)
[11]
Hofstra University, “How Much Is That Worth Today?” http://people.hofstra.edu/alan
(accessed June 11, 2013)
[12] 1850 Federal Census Brooklyn
Township, Schuyler, Illinois “Agriculture” Ancestry.com. (accessed May 5, 2013)
[13]
1850 Federal Census Brooklyn, Schuyler, Illinois “Daniel Higgins”
ancestry.com
(accessed May 5, 2013)
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