FEATHERING A NEST
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| New Purchase Agreement Signed at Fort Stanwix 28 July 1769 Between Thomas & Richard Penn and Leaders of the Six Nations Purchase Price was $2000 |
The Penn family’s “New Purchase” of territory from the Indians opened additional land for settlement farther north in the province in 1769. William McWilliams bought a tract in Northumberland County on January 24, 1774, from George Shaafe, the original owner of the land warrant.[i] William obtained a mortgage document dated January 25, in which he was identified as a Yeoman (farmer and landowner) from Chanceford Township in the County of York. He secured the mortgage totaling 125 pounds, with a down payment of five shillings. Perhaps Sarah’s inheritance made it possible for them to make the purchase. The mortgage was paid in five installments to Frank Allison and James Biddle of Philadelphia.[ii]
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| William McWilliams Land Warrant 25 January 1774 |
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| William McWilliams Land Patent 26 January 1774, Northumberland County, PA |
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| William McWilliams Mortgage 25 January 1774 Transcription 1815, Columbia County, PA |
Their “plantation,” named Shaafesburg, contained 306 acres and 30
perches. The location was surveyed,
mapped and described as “on the head of Limestone Run [a creek] north of
Chillisquaque Creek to extend down the said Run in the Forks of the Susquehanna.”
The property adjoined land belonging to Peter Burnes, Cornelius Atkinson and
Samuel Boone, who was likely a relative of Daniel Boone, a Pennsylvania native.[iii]
The McWilliams’ new real estate was located nearly one hundred miles
north of their York County home. River travel up the Susquehanna could have
been utilized to make the trip. William may have gone ahead to his plantation
to clear land for crops and build a cabin before the rest of the family
followed. Their first child, Hannah, was born October 3, 1771, and their first
son, James, was only four months old when they purchased their farm.[iv]
Creating a home in the wilderness was a daunting undertaking for
William, or any man. Although the soil was fertile, it was covered with native
forest which had to be cleared before planting could be done. William had to remove
the underbrush, girdle the bark of mature trees and wait for them to die and
fall, or cut the trees down and burn any wood that could not be salvaged for
heating, cooking or building.[v] Crop cultivation required enormous physical
stamina just to produce enough food for subsistence. William had to walk eight
miles behind his horse or team of oxen at a speed of about one and one-half
miles per hour to plow just one acre of land. Planting, cultivating, and
harvesting also required similar time and effort.[vi]
Of course, William also had to choose and cut trees to provide suitable lumber
for construction of a log cabin and simple log furniture for his family. All
these tasks had to be done with only hand tools powered by William’s muscles or
by his farm animals.
William would have guided his wooden plow, pulled
by horses or oxen, to dig a furrow four or five inches deep. A wooden harrow
was then pulled over the plowed field twice to smooth the soil for sowing
crops. Grain with small seed such as wheat or oats was broadcast by hand, while
corn was planted in holes dug with a grubbing hoe. The same hoe was also used
to remove weeds as the corn grew. Beans were sometimes planted among the corn
plants allowing the stalks to become natural supports for the bean vines. Most
settlers planted apple, peach and cherry orchards as soon as possible, because
the trees would not bear fruit for a few years.
At maturity, wheat, oats and similar grains were
harvested by cutting the stalks at about half their height with scythe or sickle
and cradle and then stacked in sheaves to be threshed with a flail during the
long winter months. Hay was mown with the same tools and was left in large
stacks in the fields. Corn was harvested by pulling the ears of corn from the
stalks.[vii] Children
were often given the task of shelling the corn from the cobs by hand.
Sarah and William relied on their farm produce, native fruits and wild
game for food. Potatoes, turnips,
pumpkins and cabbages were staple vegetables grown in gardens in Northumberland
County. They stored well when placed in a cellar, or buried in a pit or barrel
and dug out as needed during the winter. Apples also kept well, especially when
sliced and dried in the sun.
Wheat, oats, corn, and buckwheat were common cereal grains on most
farms in Turbot Township. As the population grew, Pennsylvanians took their
grains to a nearby water-powered grist mill for grinding into flour and
cornmeal. Bread, oatmeal, cornmeal and buckwheat cakes were baked in a Dutch
oven in the kitchen hearth, while most other foods were boiled over a fire. Of
course, the firewood had to be replenished at regular intervals and the old
ashes had to be removed to keep the fire burning. Wild honey, maple syrup
harvested from maple trees, and molasses made from sorghum were used for
sweetening food. Dandelion greens were gathered to eat when green vegetables
were not in season.[viii]
The McWilliams kept a cow or two as a source for milk and butter.[ix] It
is likely that William also raised swine for consumption, because they required
little care, their meat was easily preserved, and they produced large numbers
of offspring. Pigs often roamed and foraged freely in the woods during the
spring and summer where they fattened before fall when many were butchered. William
probably supplemented his food supply by fishing and hunting wild poultry,
rabbits, squirrels and deer to provide fresh meat for roasting and stewing.
Sarah’s chores as a farmer’s wife were no easier than her husband’s
labors. In addition to housekeeping chores, food preparation, and bearing and
rearing their children, she probably partnered with William in the care of
their livestock. Women of her generation typically tended the family’s swine
and poultry, and used cream from their cattle to churn into butter. Until their
sons were old enough to assist William, Sarah probably helped with butchering
the hogs, preserving the meat by salting or smoking, and rendering the fat into
lard for cooking. She may have raised chickens or guinea hens for eggs and
meat. She also could have helped William harvest their grain and hay.[x]
Most women made all the clothing for their family from wool or flax
produced on their farms. Sarah was no doubt adept at spinning wool, weaving and
sewing. The Scots-Irish grew and processed flax to use as fiber for linen cloth,
a skill that was almost universal among former residents of Ireland. Mending
and laundering by hand added more chores to the long list of responsibilities
that Sarah must have shouldered. She probably even made candles to light their
home in the evenings.
The McWilliams’ home was probably
located near a dependable water source, such as a clear stream or natural
spring. Sarah and the children most likely carried water to the house in
buckets or barrels for cooking, drinking and household chores.
[i] Pennsylvania, Land Warrants and Applications, 1733-1952, Harrisburg, PA, Pennsylvania State Archives, Land Warrants, William McWilliams (1774), 24 January 1774; accessed www.ancestry.com, Northumberland, 1774, image 574
[ii] Columbia County, Indexes to Mortgages, Wills and Administrations, and Miscellaneous Records, 1773-1833, Columbia County, PA, page 4, William McWilliams (1774), Mortgage, 25 January 1774; accessed www.familysearch.org, Pennsylvania Probate Records, 1683-1994, Columbia, filmstrip 955505, DGS 5544891, image 254
[iii] Pennsylvania State Archives, RG-17, Records of the Land Office, Copied Surveys, 1681-1912, series #17.114, George Shaafe, No. 1467, 5 September 1769, Berks County; accessed www.phmc.pa.gov, Images of Each Survey, Full Alphabet Volumes: A to Z, volume M, page M-214 and reverse
[iv] Floyd, J.L. & Co., Genealogical and Biographical Annals of Northumberland County Pennsylvania, Chicago, IL, J.L. Floyd & Co., 1911, p. 224, William McWilliams; accessed https://archive.org
[v]
Gagliardo, John G., Germans in Agriculture in Colonial Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Magazine of History and
Biography, volume 83, issue 2, April 1959, pages 207-208, accessed
https://journals.psu.edu/pmhb/article/viewFile/41466/41187
[vi] Brandon
Knapp, “How Steam Power Revolutionized the Farm in America,”
Yesterdaystractors.com, accessed at
www.yesterdaystractors.com/articles/artint226.htm
[vii] Gagliardo, pages 208-213
[viii] Youmans, Martha Follmer, “Journal of Anna Margaret Follmer 1775-1781,” Special Issue Historical Leaflet Series Publications of the Columbia County Historical Society, pages 7, 8, 10, 18, August 1976, Bloomsburg, PA; accessed Northumberland County Genealogical Library, Sunbury, PA
[ix] Northumberland County, PA, Board of County Commissioners, Tax Records, 1774-1843, Turbut Township, 1787-1825, Family Search, filmstrip 1449349, DGS 7857877, William McWilliams, accessed at familysearch.org.
[x] “Agriculture and Rural Life,” Stories from PA History, accessed at
explorepahistory.com/stories.php
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