Pioneer history of Ingham County, compiled and arranged by Mrs. Franc L. Adams, secretary of the Ingham County pioneer and historical society.

332

PIONEER HISTORY OF INGHAM COUNTY

enough to be placed in the candle stick. Then a little later, when
they wanted to be stylish, they used molds made of tin, but when
they could do no better a broken saucer filled with grease and a
rag for a wick answered every purpose.
My first school teacher was Mr. Denton, who taught summer
and winter, and he must have been a good teacher, for he let us do
as we liked, only insisting that we keep out of Mr. Sibert's orchard.
It being the only one in the country made it hard for him and us
children too. Fruit was very scarce, thornapples, crab apples,
wild grapes and wild plums formed the variety, and when Grandmother Archer sent us some dried apples from York State we children were the envy of the whole school when we could get a few
pieces of these and carry them to school to eat.
Our writing at that time was done with a quill pen, made from a
goose quill, and a teacher that couldn't make a pen was considered
incompetent to teach. A standing joke at that time was that it
took the pinion of one goose to write the o-pinion of another
goose.
Teachers wages at that time was usually 75 cents per week,
and all teachers boarded around the district.
Money was scarce and one source of revenue was the making of
"black salts." Logs were rolled together and burned, the ashes
leached and then the lye boiled down into salts, and what the
family didn't use in baking was taken to Dexter and exchanged
for money or merchandise.
Matches were unknown, and flint and steel were used instead.
Sometimes lightning would strike a tree, and every effort would be
made to keep it burning a long time to supply the neighborhood
with fire.
A letter was an event in the life of the pioneers, and when our
neighbor, Mr. Silent, was notified that there was one in the office
for him and the postage had not been paid, his daughter and I
were sent to the office to get it. The postage was 25 cents, and
instead of money to pay this the girl produced a two-quart basin
cake of deer's tallow, which answered every purpose. That was
considered legal tender there. Our journey was through the
woods two and one-half miles, and as we went we frightened up
the denizens of the forest in earnest, I can assure you. We saw
deer, partridges, turkeys, every kind of squirrel, snakes and one