FIRST SETTLERS AND EARLY HOME LIFE 



were fully supplied from the fields, the flocks, the herds 

 and the forest. The house was a factory on the farm, 

 and the farmer the producer of the raw materials used 

 in the factory. The conditions, throughout the entire 

 county, were much the same during the earlier part of 

 the first century of our history, and were marked by an 

 almost entire absence of trade. True, the farmers in 

 the southern edge of the county could reach the coast 

 and found a limited market with the West Indies, and 

 the extreme western towns found a small outlet for 

 farm products by way of the Hudson River, but the 

 almost entire absence of roads and the scarcity of 

 vehicles for transportation made travel almost impos- 

 sible, except on horseback. In the earlier days this 

 mode of travel was practised alike by the women and 

 the men. 



The first dwellings were doubtless made from hewn 

 timbers taken directly from the forests, but as power 

 saw-mills were early constructed along the many 

 streams, rough boards were soon sawed for the outside 

 covering, flooring and interior finish, and the original 

 log houses were soon replaced by more pretentious 

 dwellings. All of the finish had to be done by hand- 

 working, and so skilled were many of the workmen that 

 the interior arrangements are without parallel to-day 

 for utility, combined with good taste. The heavy hewn 

 timbers, often showing in the corners and ceilings of the 



