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Page 42
EARLY ARCHITECTURE
CHAPTER VIII
THE Architecture of the Pioneers of Brady Township can
be divided into three parts : First, that of the round log cabin and
round log barn, common from the earliest settlement down to about
1840; second, the hewed log houses and barns, running from 1833 to
1850; third, after the second period nearly all dwellings were
constructed of sawed lumber.
The usual size of the log cabin was sixteen by sixteen,
and usually not over eight feet to the square. The settler being
alone, could not use the larger timber, and he cut his logs from the
smaller forest trees. When he came to the square, he constructed the
gables by making the last log of the square a roof plate. The next
gable log above the roof plate was slanted back about two feet, and
another log to support the clapboards was run across the cabin, and
this sloping back of the gable log was continued until the ridge of
the roof was reached. The log to support the clapboards extended
beyond the end of the gable about two feet. The clapboards were
split from white pine, being about four feet long, and were then
laid on the roof logs, and a weight pole was laid on top of each of
the roof logs, which poles extended beyond the clapboards the same
distance as the roof logs. These large poles were held in place by
hickory withes, wrapped around the ends of both the pole and the
logs beyond the clapboards.
The floor was made of puncheons, split from white pine,
leveled off with an adze. There was but one door, and it was
likewise constructed of puncheons. The puncheons were held together
by wooden bars, one at the top and the bottom, either dove-tailed
into the puncheon or held in place by pins. This cross bar usually
extended three or four inches beyond the door. A hole was bored in
it, and a pin driven into the wall below the cross bar, the bar put
on it with a pin to hold it in place. The lock on the door was a
short piece of wood, twelve inches to eighteen inches in length, one
end of which was fastened to the door by a pin, and the other end
held in place by a cleat, having a notch in it three inches to four
inches, permitting the latch to work up and down. A wooden catch was
placed on the inside of the door frame in which the wooden latch
caught. A leather thong or string was fastened to the latch close to
the edge of the door, and passed through a hole cut through the door
and hung on the outside, so that one wanting to enter pulled the
string, thus raising the latch. The door at night was locked by
pulling the latch string in. From this custom we get the expression,
"You will find our latch string out."
The windows of the cabin were few. There was no glass,
and the rain, snow and cold were kept out by a piece of paper,
greased with tallow or lard, and fastened into the opening. This
greasing would permit the light to pass through the paper. Or the
stomach of some
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