Brighton Area Historical Society

In 1843 The Livingston County Agricultural Society was formed for the purpose of encouragement and advancement of agriculture. This is barely ten years since the first settlers came to this wilderness area. In that short time land was cleared of trees, swamps were drained by digging ditches and the prairie was furrowed by the plow. The foremost crop at the time was wheat.

This was the main ingredient in the pioneer’s diet. With oxen, occasionally a horse, tree stumps were pulled and burned. Prior to this the trees had been girdled in order to allow the sun to reach the ground. Plowing the soil always brought stones of all sizes to the surface. One of the daily jobs of the children was to pick them up into piles.

With a pan of wheat, or a seeder strapped over the shoulder, the farmer scattered the seed. After 3-4 months and warm weather, the ripe wheat was ready to be harvested. When the heads were heavy with grain the pioneer’s anxiety grew with each passing wind or rain storm. Would his grain be flattened to the ground where it might be wet and begin to rot? His family, the cattle, sheet, etc. were depending on him.

Finally after several hot, dry days it was time to cut the wheat. One walked through the wheat swinging the cradle scythe, letting it fall in windrows. Family members followed, gathering up the windrows until the arm was full, then tying it with a handful of grain stalks. Several of these bundles were stacked, on the cut ends, into small groups supporting each other.

These bundles were then pitched onto a wagon, hauled to the barn, or some protected area. A canvas or some sort of ground cover was spread out. The dry wheat was spread about and the beating of the wheat with a flail began. Ingenious, farmers soon figured out a roller type contraction to which the draft animals were hitched, to thresh the wheat.

Wind power was used to separate the grain from its hull. Either by tossing it into the air by hand or the use of a fanning mill. This was turned by hand, whereby air was blown through the grain. The winnowed grain was usually poured into gunnysacks. Later barns were built with a granary or a separate building constructed. The remaining chaff and wheat stalks were used to refill the farmer’s mattress each year and as bedding for the cattle.

The earliest mowers used short pieces of scythes fastened close to the lower edge of a hollow log placed in a vertical position. Pulled by the team, gears turned the log in a rotary fashion, cutting everything through which they passed. Attaching grindstones kept the knives sharp as they rotated. It wasn’t long before a horizontal bar was developed. This had the knives zipping back and forth cutting the grain in a more efficient manner. The development of the binder allowed the wheat to be bundled at the same time. The children of the family helped gather these bundles, stacking them into shocks for quicker placing and arranging on the wagon for transport to the actual threshing area.

Hand threshing was not a popular activity. Flailing was arduous work, it had to be done in warm weather, and no matter how the straw was tossed into the wind, a goodly amount found it’s way into the mouth, hair and clothes. When the threshing machine came into being, the intensity of the labor involved, for the amount of grain harvested was greatly eased. (However other chores soon filled the vacuum.)

Steam powered the early threshers. The steam engine itself was placed some distance from the thresher. This was an attempt to reduce the ever-present danger of fire; Dry straw ignites easily. A long, wide, heavy belt transferred the power from the engine to the thresher, turning its gears, etc. The bundles of wheat were tossed onto a conveyer and the threshed grain poured into bags while the straw and chaff was blown from the end of a tube. The wonderful, soft, golden pile, often 12-15’ high, usually proved an irresistible magnet for children. Their struggle to the top resulted in a swift slide to the ground. However "Pa" usually didn’t want the straw stack scattered all over and one was sure to come away with a mouthful of straw and chaff which also tangled hair and slid down inside one’s shirt where it irritated mightily. These drawbacks were usually considered inconsequential compared to the fun of the slide.