May 4, 2020
#318

Thank you, Barbara Schock, for sharing your extraordinary gift of these vignettes of Galesburg & 19th century American history.

Charles Norris Butt (1833-1919) Knoxville, Illinois

On February 8, 1917, The Knox County Republican published a reminisce written by Charles N. Butt in which he compared his memories of the 1840s to the present day.
 
Charles N. Butt was born in Champaign County, Ohio, on March 10, 1833. He was the tenth of eleven children in the family of Thomas D. and Sarah (Williams) Butt, of Greenbrier, West Virginia. His parents came to Knox County in 1837. He lived his entire life on the family farm six miles east of Knoxville.
 
“Possibly it will be interesting to recall the times when our people were not troubled about the high cost of living (World War One was dominating world affairs at the time and prices had been increasing rapidly).
 
“The Butt farm consisted of 160 acres, the stock included ten or twelve cows, a yoke of oxen, four mares, twenty-five head of sheep, a dozen pigs, fifty hens, about a dozen geese, a few ducks and a flock or turkeys. The farm produced practically everything the family consumed, both clothing and food.
 
“The sheep furnished the wool which was carded at the fulling mill into rolls for spinning. At home it was spun into yarn and woven on a hand loom. For bed blankets it was left white, but for clothing it was dyed any color desired. A competent housewife could make dyes of almost any color. The white and black wool was mixed to produce a gray like the uniform of Confederate soldiers in the Civil War. There was no ready-made clothing as all clothing was made in the home. Stockings, mittens and tippets (scarves) were all knitted in the home. Caps for the boys were made from furred animals which were trapped in the winter time.
 
“Two or three cows were killed in a season. A tannery was in operation near by and the hides were taken there and oak-tanned to make our boots and shoes. A shoemaker would take measures of the whole family and make our cowhides into boots.
 
“We sowed about an acre of flax and hemp for ropes, etc. The flax we pulled, let it dry, then bound it up and put it out in the meadow to rot the stalks to get the lint fiber. When in proper condition it was again taken up and put in the shed until winter. The hemp was put through the same process as the flax. Then it was put through a brake to break up the woody stalks. Afterwards it was placed on a scutching board and the splinters knocked out of the lint. After going through the hackle it was ready for spinning.
 
“Mother would spin the flax while the girls would spin the wool. In the fall Mother would get enough cotton yarn for weaving the wool into fabric for winter clothes. The flax was used to make sheets, towels and summer wear. The flax seed was also used for a poultice to reduce swelling.
 
“For food we had everything we needed—fresh meat, potatoes, beets, cabbage, parsnips, pumpkins for pies, apples, which produced vinegar and cider. Six or eight hogs were killed in fall or early winter which gave us plenty of meat for the winter, such as ham or spareribs, lard and sausage. The hams and sides were salted in a big trough and in April they were hung up in the smokehouse and smoked which prepared and preserved them for summer use. We had plenty of chickens for summer roasting and pot pies and eggs, turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas and a roasted goose occasionally, served with applesauce.
 
“The cows gave plenty of milk and from it we made both butter and cheese and what the family did not consume was taken to market at Knoxville and traded for dry goods. Extra fine butter brought ten cents a pound, cheese sold for five cents a pound. All eggs not used went to the store and they brought five cents a dozen.”
 
Mr. Butt commented “Little was heard of the world at large as there were no railroads, telegraphs or telephones. But the four-horse stagecoach that ran from Peoria to Oquawka carried passengers and mail. Mail carriers went on horseback across country.”
 
C.N. Butt and his wife are buried in the Knoxville Cemetery. A large boulder taken from their farm marks the graves.