Manners and Customs in Colonial Days 87 



The country possessed a fairly fertile soil, with heavy wood- 

 lands covering the rolling hills and valleys, while springs, 

 brooks, and streams abounded. The settler, having chosen 

 his holding with reference to abundant water, began his clear- 

 ing and planted his wheat, maize, rye, and other cereals, and 

 his peach, apple, and cherry trees; while nature supplied him 

 with many varieties of berries. The trees which he had cut 

 down were, by means of the axe and the adze, cut into proper 

 lengths, notched and trimmed, and the log-house of the Ameri- 

 can pioneer became his habitation. Sometimes it had only a 

 single story, sometimes a story and a half; in the latter case, 

 access was had to the upper part by a rude flight of steps on the 

 outside, or by a perpendicular ladder within. Two rooms 

 constituted the bedroom and kitchen, the latter being the gen- 

 eral living room in which the family gathered, not only at meal 

 times, but at all other times when their occupations did not 

 call them out of doors. The roofs were high gables, covered 

 with split shingles; and when the cabin possessed the dignity 

 of an upper story, the roof was pierced with one or more dormer 

 windows. When settlers of a higher class or possessed of more 

 means came into the country, the sides of the houses were cov- 

 ered with shingles as well as the roofs, which latter became of 

 that double slant called gambril. 



Westchester County was not so distinctively Dutch as 

 Rockland and other up-river counties, nor was the Dutch 

 tongue spoken for so long a time. The Dutch settler usually 

 built his house of stone with a large door, the lower half and 

 the upper half being swung separately, so that the upper half 

 could be opened for light and ventilation, while the lower half 

 remained shut, to prevent the egress of the small children and 

 the ingress of poultry, pigs, or other domestic animals. The 

 windows were made of small panes of glass and were protected 



