LOG CABIN LIFE

by Danna Shirley

Writing assignment~pioneer life

I was one a three girls an’ four boys, oldest of all the young’un’s, when Ma an’ Pa took us by wagon from Kentucky ta Tennessee ta look for a new homestead; better soil for plantin’ an’ growin’ crops. We was poor an’ couldn’t buy no slaves ta help build the cabin, so’s we all pitched in cutting trees an’ strippin’ ‘em down fer logs.

I had double duty helpin’ Ma with the cookin’ an’ cleanin’ an’ then choppin’ an’ cuttin’ firewood so’s my brothers could work in the field with Pa. My two sisters was too young to help much ‘cept play an’ need tendin’ to so’s not ta wander off. There was still injuns ‘round about an’ we had ta keep a sharp eye. Nothin’ was easy in them days but it got better after the cabin went up an’ we slept under a roof ‘stead a under the wagon.  

The inside wall was the same as the outside wall an’ we stuffed the inside walls with sticks an’ twigs an’ anythin’ we could find to fill up the gaps. Pa dug a big hole next ta the pond an’ we filled it with water ta stir up inta mud. My two little sisters loved makin’ mud pies in the hole an’ Pa let ‘em ‘cause it kept the mud wet an’ easy to stick ‘tween the logs. Then my brothers hauled it up from the pond ta the cabin so’s Pa could slap it on.

It sealed tight but it was still pretty cold in winter. Later on, Pa built a dogtrot through from front door ta back an’ added on a room so’s we could spread out an’ get some air flowin’.

I wanted ta mark the cabin as ours so I writ down on a small paper all our names an’ the year an’ stuck it ‘tween two logs in the corner a the parlor. Don’t know if anyone were ta ever find it but ta me, it sealed us ta the cabin forever an’ ever…

Morgan Family - 1837

Dawson Morgan and

Agatha Kelsey Morgan

Bertha 14

Dexter 12

Percy 11

Cecil 9

Norman 7

Jemima 5

Clara 3