Stratton House Inn :: Little Home Histories, Part 22 -- Historical Data Concerning Joel and Rebecca Doudna and Family: Tobacco House, Tobacco Growing, and Dog House.
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by Hanson, Lucinda Bundy.

See previous entry: Little Home Histories, Part 21 -- Historical Data Concerning Joel and Rebecca Doudna and Family: Spring.

Father's tobacco was always considered as among the very best in the neighborhood. When the tobacco was ripe, they would bring it to the tobacco house on sleds drawn by horses. They would then unhitch the horses, leave the filled sled and hitch them to an empty sled to take back to the field. The stringers (the persons tying the tobacco would put the tobacco on a table about three feet long and two feet wide.) They had a stick about four feet long, twine, and a long needle. After tying one end of the twine to the stick and threading the needle with the other end, they would thread the needle and twine through the stem of the tobacco. Then it was pushed up as far as possible. When the sticks were full, they were tied to horizontal pieces on top and between posts which were in long rows placed grape arbor fashion. These horizontal pieces were placed just far enough apart to leave the yard sticks to hang free. The first filled sticks would be tied at the top of the house. It was great fun to play hide-and-seek between the full rows of strung tobacco. In the middle of the dirt floor a "flue" was built. This ran the full length of the house and was covered over the top. It was made of stone and bricks. At the end they pushed in long logs. This kept burning for two or three days.

Close to the tobacco house was built a little shack of logs. It was equipped with straw and old quilts. The person attending the fire in the tobacco house would sleep there. This was called the "Dog House." At first father himself would tend it, not trusting the boys. Afterwards the boys would do it, The neighbor boys would come in, and they would have watermelon. They told how they would catch chickens, kill, clean, and cook and eat them there.

Gypsum weed grew on the place. The stem sometimes was as big as my wrist. The tobacco blower, a kind of butterfly, laid its eggs on this weed. The worms hatched from these eggs ate the tobacco leaves. Father would give us pennies for catching these large, ugly worms. They could be caught best about sundown.

Source: Written by: Lucinda Bundy Hanson, Richmond, Va., Feb. 12, 1942.

See next entry: Little Home Histories, Part 23 -- Historical Data Concerning Joel and Rebecca Doudna and Family: Barns.

For the table of contents and first entry in this series, please see: Little Home Histories, Part 01 -- Table of Contents and Introduction.


This entry is adapted from Little Home Histories in Our Early Homes, Belmont County, Ohio, which was published in 1942. Its publication was coordinated by Robert D. and Beulah Patten McDonald. This entry has been reedited for inclusion in the Pierian Press Fulltext eBooks database, and is included on the Stratton House Inn Website by special permission. This entry is licensed for use ONLY on this Website. It may be used for educational purposes and personal pleasure under fair-use provisions via this Website. Please note that the Stratton House Inn iteration of this entry does NOT include the subject headings assigned each chapter for use in the Fulltext eBooks database.

DATABASE: Fulltext eBooks: Copyright (c) 2002 The Pierian Press, Inc. All Rights Reserved
ENTRY NUMBER: EBK30013722

 

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