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

BUNKERHIILL TOWNSIIP AND ITS HISTORY

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that time, or that it looked anything like Peerless carpet warp.
But perhaps Peerless carpet warp will be just as much out of date
then as No. 20 cotton yarn is now. There was finer thread for
finer uses, and linen thread, both black and in the natural flax
color, which could be bought in skeins, also silk and cotton thread
done up in the same way. I hardly think skein thread went out
entirely until sewing machines came in. Dr. Dubois' mother
brought her flax wheel with her when she came to Michigan, and
she was an expert in the use of it. Some of the thread she spun
was knit by her daughters into lace that was simply beautiful.
At that time a man could not go to town and buy Stark A bags
all ready to use. If he had grain to sell lie had to get the material,
and mother and the girls made them. One of my earliest recollections is of sitting in my little chair and sewing on bags. If I
remember rightly the material was narrow, so there were two overand-over seams, an abomination to any little girl.
If sheep made a part of the farm stock the wool was made up
into clothing. It was first scoured and washed, then picked out
light, that is the snarls picked out, which was done by the pioneer
mother and the children, with outside help if it could be got. The
next step was to get it carded into rolls. The carding mill was at
Dexter, and when the rolls came home the spinning and weaving
was done in the house. As much of it as was needed for the
women folks was sometimes colored red with madder, a color that
never faded. Sometimes the yarn was colored different colors
and woven into a plaid.
That intended for the men's underwear was sometimes colored
red, and sometimes yellow, the dye for the latter being made from
the leaves of peach trees. Any for the men's outer garments was
sent to the fulling mill, or sometimes woven into satinette. A
favorite color for men's clothes was brown, the dye made from butternut shucks or bark.
When making time comes, the pioneer mother takes her shears
in hand, and if she is fortunate enough to have help, the job is
soon done, for everything was made in the most simple way. Some
of the yarn will be doubled and twisted ready for knitting, and the
pioneer mother and all the girls old enough, and some of them
begin very early in life, put in all their spare minutes knitting
stockings and socks. So after a time the garments were all fin