Life in Virginia

Each and every head of the family manufactured his own shoes for his entire family  Most of them had a few sheep and they carded the wool by hand, then they would spin and weave the family clothing from wool and flax which they grew, they made linen trousers, towels and table clothes.  The women wore linsey woolen dresses for everyday and a calico one for Sunday and the men wore blue jean suits and for everyday brown wool jeans and hunting shirt (something like a jacket).

Each home had a sugar tree camp.  Each spring when the sap arose, they made the maple sugar and syrup to last a year.  About two and one half to three feet above the base of the tree they cut a notch in the trunk and below inserted an auger hole intersecting with the notch and put in an Elder spoil to convey the sap to the pail or trough.  Then each morning they hauled it on a sled to the damp where they boiled it down.

Their farms were small and made by clearing off the timber.  They raised some wheat, corn and flax.  Their meat supply was obtained by getting a wild hog from the forest which was fattened on mast or chestnuts and acorns.  They had a great quantity of wild fruits and berries, huckleberries, dew berries and blackberries.

In the forests were many deer, black bears, panthers and wild turkeys.

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