Pioneer Vocabulary

        Some of these words were introduced from the old homestead and were never in common use, but they were used by the pioneers in some localities. Others were improper forms or pronunciations of other words but were common enough to justify inserting them here. Still others were new words which originated out of the necessities of pioneer life and went out of use with the introduction of new surroundings. No attempt is made to make a complete list of words peculiar to pioneer life, but to give only a few words and phrases which they used and which have now practically gone out of use.

• Ash-hopper, a sort of hopper made by setting clap-boards about three feet long into a trough three or four feet long, leaving the upper end of the boards to extend about thirty degrees from a perpendicular so as to make the two sides meet in the trough, forming an angle of about sixty degrees. The ends were built in with other boards. The hopper was then filled with wood ashes and kept dry until they wanted to use it. The pioneer woman poured water over it to make lye, which was used to make soap.
• Back-log, a cut of a log a foot or more in diameter to put in the back of a fire-place in making a fire.
• Boat-jack, a piece of plank eighteen inches or two feet in length with an opening in one end which would just fit the boot heel. It was used to pull the boots off.
• Brace of ducks, two dead ducks tied together to make them more easily carried.
• Buck-skin Breeches, trousers made of the hide of a buck, worn with the hairy side in during cold weather and the other way during summer.
• Bullet-mould, a small iron instrument used by the pioneers to mould bullets for their rifles.
• Cabin, a small log-house made by building the logs together like a pen and covered with clap-boards.
• Candle-moulds, moulds made of tin into which tallow was poured to make candles.
• Candle-snips, an instrument something like scissors to trim the charred ends of the wick in a candle.
• Clap-board, broad, thin pieces of timber made by cutting a log into cuts from two to five feet long
• and then splitting them. The blocks were split into eighths and then the points were split off and dis-
• carded. This was called bolting and the parts were called bolts. The bolts were then rived or split into boards with a frow. It was quite an art to make good boards.
• Cards, a pair of wire brushes about six by nine inches, used in working wool into strings. This was called carding.
• Chinking, blocks or slivers of wood used to fill the cracks in the walls of a cabin.
• Civilized meat, an expression used to distinguish pork and beef from venison or the meat of other wild animals.
• Cradle, an instrument made for cutting wheat. It had a snead or handle about four feet long, properly curved, a blade and four fingers, each about three feet long, set at right angles to the handle with the fingers in such a position as to catch the grain as it fell from the blade. A strong man could cut and swath about three acres in a day.
• Crane, a hook put in the fire-place to hang pots and kettles over the fire. They sometimes hung meat on it to roast it.
• Critter. Pioneers often referred to their horses as critters. The word is a corruption of the word, creatures.
• Dinner-horn, a horn used to call the farmers from the field.
• Dog-iron, another name for andiron or firedog. They were used to keep the wood from falling out of the fire-place.
• Drap, an incorrect pronunciation of drop, e.g., I just drapped in to see you a minute, or, The children drap the corn.
• Drinking-gourd, a gourd with a portion grown out like a dipper handle and with one side of it cut away so as to make it like a dipper. One was usually kept at the well. They held from one to three pints and would last a long time.
• Fence-worm, the first rail of each panel of a rail fence. They were built zig-zag to enable them to cross the rails at the ends. It was not an easy job to lay a fence-worm.
• Fifth Quarter, the hide and tallow of a beef. It was sometimes given to an expert rifleman at a shooting match in order to appease him for being ruled out of the game.
• Fireplace, a large opening in a chimney where a fire may be built.
• Flint-lock, a gun arranged so that a piece of steel would strike fire from a piece of flint and thus ignite the powder.
• Frow (fro), an instrument with a blade about sixteen inches long and having a handle about the same length, set at right angles. It was used in riving clap-boards.
• Gee, a word to a horse telling him to turn to the right. The opposite is haw.
• Galluses, suspenders.
• Grease-lamp, in use more than two thousand years ago. It consisted of a dish of some kind containing grease and a cotton string for a wick. Fire was applied to the end of the wick hanging over the side of the vessel. By capillary attraction, the grease was drawn up and burned, making a fairly good light.
• Gritter (grater), a common article made by punching holes in a piece of tin and attaching it to a board, making a segment of a cylinder with the rough side of the tin outside. It was used for grating corn.
• Hand-spike, a lever five or six feet long with both ends smooth, used to carry logs, a man lifting at each end of the hand-spike, with the log in the middle. At log-rollings, two or three were used under the same log. It was a great feat to pull everybody else down with a hand-spike.
• Horse-power, now a unit by which power is measured. Then it meant a machine to which horses were hitched so as to go around in a circle and furnish power for grist mills, saw mills, etc.
• Indian-summer, a period of mild weather in the late autumn or the early winter, usually characterized by a cloudless sky and a hazy, smoky-like horizon. It is of uncertain origin, but tradition says it is the time that Indians burned the leaves and gathered nuts.
• Johnny-board, a smooth board to put dough on before the fire to bake bread. It was probably a corruption of Journey-board, a name given to it because they used it when they were moving.
• Johnny-cake, a cake of bread made on the johnny-board.
• Latch-string, a string which extended from the door-latch upward and out thru a hole in such a manner as to permit the latch to be lifted with it while it hung out. If the latch-string hung out, visitors were welcome to enter, hence the expression, "the latch-string hangs out," when we mean to say you are welcome.
• Lead, the horse on the left in a two-horse team. It is sometimes called the "near" horse. The other is the "off" horse.
• Line a hymn. Song books were scarce, so the preacher would read a line of a song, then they would sing it, then he would read another and so on thru the song. This was called ' i lining a hymn. ' '
• Loom, a large machine, usually home made, used for weaving cloth, carpets, etc.
• Linsey-woolsey, a kind of woolen dress, all home made.
• Lizard, a piece of timber cut out of the fork of a tree and made into a sort of a sled, used in dragging logs.
• Log-rolling. In the winter the farmers would clear the ground, i.e., they cut the timber off and in the spring the neighbors met and rolled and piled the logs to burn. This meeting was called a log rolling.
• Mast, the crop of acorns, nuts, etc., that fell from the forest trees in the autumn. Hogs were allowed to run at large and were fattened on it.
• Mourner's-bench, the front seat of a church where those who were sorry for their sins were urged to come to be prayed for.
• Muster-day, a day set apart for all the men to gather together and practice military drill. (See Waller's History of Illinois.)
• Pillion, a sort of saddle or cushion for a lady, to be put on a horse behind a man's saddle. It was the custom for a young man to take his best girl on the horse behind him.
• Plew, a whole hide of an animal.
• Plow-line, a rope used in directing the horse while plowing.
• Pounder, a weight used in pounding grain. They varied in weight from one pound to several pounds. Sometimes it was a large round pebble but usually it was made of wood.
• Puncheon, a piece of log six or eight feet long, split open, the round side notched and the other smoothed, used in making floors, etc.
• Powder horn, a cow's horn in which powder was carried on a hunt.
• Quill-pen, a writing pen made of goose quills. It was a great point in favor of a teacher to be able to make a good pen.
• Reel, an instrument used in getting yarn ready to knit.
• Saddle of venison, two hams of venison not cut apart.
• Salt gourd, a gourd in which salt was kept. It usually had an opening in the upper part of one side and was hung up by the stem.
• Shaving-horse, a bench with a vise arranged to operate by the feet. It was used to hold a piece of timber while it was being shaved or whittled down with a drawing-knife.
• Shine a coon. This meant to get into such a position that a raccoon which the dogs had " treed" (found in a tree) would be exactly between the hunter and the moon. A good marksman could shoot toward the moon and get the raccoon.
• Shine a deer. This meant to build a fire in the woods at night and wait for a deer to come up so that the light shining in the eyes of a deer could be seen. The deer was shy and stayed a long distance away, but a good marksman could get them.
• Sley, an instrument for the warp to go thru in a loom.
• Shot-pouch, a leather pouch swung around the shoulders, used in carrying shot while out hunting.
• Spinning wheel, a wheel driving a spindle which the women used in spinning yarn after it was "carded," i.e., made into loose strands with the cards.
• Trencher, a wooden dish, something very common.
• Trundle-bed, a low bed on wheels. It was run under another bed in the day time and brought out at night. It was for the children.
• Turn of milling. After mills were established, pioneers took wheat and corn to the mill to be ground for "bread-stuff". It probably was three bushels of wheat and three bushels of corn, but no definite authority can be found as to that. Some say it meant just half that much.
• Venison, deer made into meat.
• Warping bars, a frame having a large number of spools, used to get the "warp" or threads of even length before they were woven into a carpet or piece of cloth.
• Well-sweep, a pole with a heavy end hung across the top of an upright fork in such a position that the weight of the heavy end would lift a bucket of water out of a well with the light end.
• Whip-saw, a saw used by the pioneers in sawing lumber. The log was placed on a frame so that one man could get under and pull the saw straight down. Another man would then pull it up. Thus the process was continued something after the manner of using a cross-cut saw.