|
a.
|
Note: REFLECTIONS ON MY GRANDPARENTS' HOME
Nancy Rebecca Allen Deacon
May 2000
In 1792 my great, great, great grandfather, a Hodgkin by name, bought some land on a creek five miles from Winchester. He built a log home for his family. He also built a two-room stone house several yards from the log house. One room was a large kitchen with a big grate to be used for cooking and the other room was the slaves' quarters. The slaves kept their clothes in a corner cupboard that I have now in my dining room. When the house was later given to family members, they added on to it. My Grandfather bought the land, 1000 acres, from the Hodgkin family. My Grandmother had one sister and three brothers. When they married the house was added to. There was a step down from the kitchen to the dining area and there was a step from the bedroom to the hall.
Horses and buggies were used in those days and, when "courting" time came, men had to stay all night. The house had two stair cases, one was used for the men and the other for the ladies. There was no connection between the stairs or the two upstairs rooms. In my Grandmother's parlor, there were six straight chairs, one rocker, and a table with a beautiful kerosene lamp on it. The ladies never crossed their feet. They wore long dresses that were beautiful. The next day the men went home. When my Mother was living, she wanted the stairs kept as they were in her time there.
I stayed with my Grandparents a lot and slept in the room above them. The house was heated with huge grates in which was a large log which had a back log, meaning a large wood log--it burned all night. A farm person came every morning and turned the log and added more smaller logs. The kitchen stove was a wood burning type. There were several buildings on the main lot including a granary that held food for chickens, a smokehouse where the meat was kept, and a milk house. The milk house was under ground and when the ice was on ponds it was broken up and put in the milk house.
|
