How settlers built first cabins

In 1909, authors Newton Bateman and Paul Selby published a book titled "Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois" and "History of Livingston County, Volume II."

In this book, the authors recounted how the pioneer settlers built their first log cabin. This portion of their history book is excerpted and shown below.

When the pioneer farmer and home-seeker arrived in this county to "spy out the land" and select a place to make his future home, his first thought was to provide a shelter for his family and his team (team of horses).

He found along the streams an abundance of good hardwood timber, such as black and white walnut, white, red and burr oak, ash, elm, hickory, hackberry, wild cherry, etc., but no sawmill to convert this timber into lumber for building purposes.

The early settler, however, usually came prepared to meet just such an emergency and was equal to the occasion. A hand-ax, a broad-ax, a cross-cut saw, a hand-saw, an auger, an adze, a draw-shave, a frow, and two or three iron wedges were the tools necessary for  the construction of a comfortable log cabin.

With a team and his outfit, which was sufficient for building purposes for a whole neighborhood, the pioneer farmer would begin the construction of his house and stables. Having selected the spot upon which to build his cabin, and determined the size he wished to make it, he would go into the timber and select a sufficient number of trees of the proper size, cut and with his team drag the logs to the place determined upon for the building.

When he had enough logs on the ground, he would cut them the proper length, notch the ends, and place them around the spot where the house was to stand. Then, with the assistance of a few neighbors, the logs were soon put together in the shape of a house or log cabin.

The rafters to support the roof were logs or poles, six to seven inches in diameter at the butt and laid lengthwise of the building and pinned with wooden pins to the logs forming the gable ends, thus supporting the gables in place as well as forming rafters for the clapboard roof.

The clapboards that were then in general use for making cabin roofs were made from logs cut in two and a half and three feet lengths from large straight-grained white or burr oak trees; and it required an experienced woodman to select trees that could easily be worked up into good clapboards. The logs were split into bolts with a maul and iron wedges, and with a mallet and frow soon worked up into clapboards that would make a roof as near watertight as a good shingle roof.

After the first course of clap hoards had been carefully laid, a pole was placed over the lower end of the course and securely pinned with inch wooden pins to the lower rafter supporting the clapboards. After the second course had been laid, lapping the first course eight to twelve inches, another pole was laid on immediately over the second rafter and held in place by three short sticks of wood with the lower ends resting against the first pole.

In this manner the entire roof was laid and secured in position without the use of a hammer or nail and did good without the use of a hammer or nail and did good service for many years.

The floors of these cabins were usually made of puncheons resting upon heavy sleepers made of logs, and fastened to the sleepers with wooden pins and then dressed down smooth with the adze.

The door, window, and fireplace openings were cut out after the cabin logs were in place. The jambs were made from straight grained split timber, dressed down straight with an adze and pinned to the ends of the logs where they had been cut out. The door was made of split slabs of timber and was hung on hinges made of oak or hickory wood.

The fire-place was made large enough to take in four to six foot wood, was built of rock, with common clay for mortar, up about five or six feet high, or above the opening cut in the wall, and from there up as high as desired with split sticks about the size of lath, plastered outside and in with clay.

The sash and window glass were about the only articles in the entire building not found or made upon the land. These were usually procured in Ottawa or Peoria, and came up the river from St Louis by boat. 

The writer of this sketch lived in this county during the years 1847-1848 In a double log cabin built as above described, that did not contain an ounce of hardware in its entire construction, and it was not an uncomfortable habitation.

Stables for the horses were built of logs, as were the cabins, but with roofs thatched with slough grass. This slough grass grew six to seven feet high, and made a splendid roof for stables, cribs and sheds, as well as for "topping"' off grain and hay stacks.

(Dale Maley's weekly history article is sponsored by Dr. Charlene Aaron)