Pioneer Life in Illinois

In 1908 F. M. Perryman published his second edition of Pioneer Life in Illinois . That year Aunt Emma gave a copy of this little book to her father, Grandfather Garman, as a Christmas present. Here are three chapters which tell of very early (1825-1850) pioneer life in Shelby County—the county where the first Bairds settled in the late 1850s and 1860s. In that time, a few years before the arrival of the Bairds, pioneer life was really primitive.

THE WOLF

It was in the fall of 1827 my father had built his cabin, but had not yet made the door, and they hung a quilt for a door. He had to go to Vandalia (then the capital of Illinois) to register (record) his land. He had a sow and little pigs, so he penned them up in the chimney corner to keep the wolves from getting them--but the wolves came in and caught all the pigs but one. My mother was frantic and said that when the wolves would eat that pig they would break into the house and catch the children. She got my cousin Martha to come and stay all night and help her mind the wolves off the children. They prepared some big clubs and now a hot battle was expected. But before night my father got home and shot and killed one of the wolves--and then peace reigned for the present.

BILLY AND THE WOLVES

In early days my father got Billy Sullivan to come help him butcher a beef calf and it was getting dark when they got done. Mr. Sullivan started home with some of the beef my father had given him, and the wolves gathered around him so thick that he had to climb a tree to save himself. He hollered for help with all his might, but it was windy and no one heard him until almost morning. My Father heard him and started to go to help him, but Billy hollered and told him not to come alone; then Father went and got John Hall to come with all his hounds. When they shot off their guns and the hounds made a great noise, the wolves left and Billy came down almost chilled. He said there were between thirty and forty of the wolves. Such was pioneer life in Illinois.

CARES

In early days we had a great deal of hard work to clear the land and then to make and keep up the rail fences. It took four times the work to raise a corn crop as it does now (1907); and it took four times the work to cut the firewood as it does now; and it took so much work to prepare the material and make our clothing. So the pioneers had to keep pretty busy. When the corn was in roasting ear stage we had to watch it closely for the squirrels in the daytime and the coons at night would destroy a great deal of it; and later on if it was not gathered early the deer and the turkeys and the prairie chickens would eat it up!