The 1825 opening of the Erie Canal provided an easier and less expensive water route from New York and New England.
Soon, settlers started to come to the Midwest in droves, especially from New England and Europe. European immigrants favored the direct water route from New York to southeast Michigan.
Cheboygan was first settled in the late 1840s. The first cabins were built on the west side of the river. Duncan City was founded on the east side where several large sawmills were built to process logs. The towns soon exploded as logging, fishing and farming brought even more settlers here. Immigrants from Europe (English, French, Germans, Poles, Norwegians, Swedes and Finns) also found their way to Cheboygan.
Settlers and immigrants found the same challenges: jobs, housing and clearing the land. Given the cold and snowy winters, appropriate housing was a priority.
Many built simple cabins, especially the farmers outside of town.
Today, I would like to give you a personal tour of a typical log home.
The logs were mostly rough-sawn with some bark left. When the walls were going up, the space between them was filled with thick, hard mud.
Log homes were built with one exterior door. It did a decent job keeping the cold out, but sometimes a blanket might be nailed up to reduce any breezes.
As we enter, we notice the floor is made of rough-sawn planks. This family was lucky. Most pioneer homes had dirt floors.
To the right, you can see a wooden shelf holding two buckets of water. One of the older boys brought them from the well. Beside the buckets is a washbasin where family members can clean up. For soap, the women made their own of fat and lye. In warm weather, the family might enjoy an outdoor bath in a big wooden tub.
Next, we see a large, square table, made by the homeowner himself. The mother and older children used the table to prepare food and then the family would sit down on homemade chairs to eat. To do their homework, the children sit around the table at night.
A large fireplace dominates one wall. Beside it is a wood storage box. The fireplace is the only source of heat for warmth and cooking. A huge bubbling kettle is full of a vegetable and venison stew that feeds the family for several days. If you take a deep breath, you’ll notice a mouth-watering aroma.
Over in a corner, I spy a butter churn. Having a churn is almost a luxury. This family is fortunate to have one as well as two milk cows. By agitating milk or cream, pioneers would make their own butter (and believe-you-me, it took a lot of churning). On the next wall, clean plates and bowls are stacked up on shelves for tomorrow’s meals.
Across the way, there’s a door to the single bedroom. It doesn’t have a window or heat and it’s just large enough to hold a double bed. The mattress is filled with straw and the pillows with feathers. Clothing is hung on large nails. The family has very few clothes. Almost all are made and repaired at home.
Next, we climb a rustic wooden ladder leading to a loft where the children sleep, boys on one side and girls on the other. A curtain separated them. There’s no dresser or beds. Children sleep on straw mattresses on the floor. A small window provides light.
Climbing back down, we see an opening in the floor to a root cellar underneath the home. Root cellars were dug to keep food fresh for months.
Wash day is Monday. Clothes were scrubbed on a washboard and rinsed in two large tubs. Sometimes, the mother added “bluing” to the last tub to make white clothing whiter.
Let’s go outside. There’s a woodshed near the house. Further out we see a chicken coop and rabbit hutch, both strongly built to keep coyotes out. Then there’s a barn for horses and cows. It was built high, so the hay to feed the animals could be stored overhead and dropped down when needed.
It is spring. The fruit trees are in full bloom. It’s time to get back to work plowing the fields.
Thank you for joining me!