On one side of the fireplace was a built-in cupboard where cooking utensils and dishes were kept. The plates and bowls usually were made of wood or pewter, and the knives, forks and spoons of horn. Also in the cupboard might be found a bread basket, dough trough, candle-stick molds, a bootjack, and a box of sand used to polish the pewter ware.
On the other side of the fireplace was a steep staircase leading to the attic and typical of those found in small houses of the period.
Nearby, perhaps over the fireplace, were suspended a flint-lock musket and powder horn. Hanging from the ceiling of the room might be a warming pan, raccoon skins, fox pelts, slabs of bacon and venison, chains of sausages, and strings of dried apples and red peppers. And on a convenient shelf was the family Bible, the leather cover of which was used—without any disrespect intended—by the man of the house for stropping his straight-edge razor.
The attic of the house was floored with rough boards but was otherwise unfurnished. It had been used as a bedroom, and imagination can conjure the image of a small, wide-eyed boy lying on a pallet of rustling corn husks, listening to the wind rattle the shingles and dodging an occasional drop of rain which seeped through. Perhaps it wasn’t always imagination when he heard the howl of wolves or the yell of a passing Indian. A portion of the attic floor has been cut away so visitors may see the original rafters and shingle strips.
Fireplace
About the time the Pioneer Home was built, carpenter work was relatively expensive. Dormer windows containing 12 panes of glass cost $12; door frames were 8c a linear foot and window frames 16c. Panel doors were priced at 75c per panel. This partially explains why the windows were few and small. Another reason, of course, was the difficulty of heating the house adequately in the winter. It was also very difficult to transport large panes of glass over rough roads from the East.
The house at one time had a partial basement with dirt floor, but it had no porches. At a later date a wooden lean-to was added at the rear but it has long since disappeared. This addition housed a bedroom and kitchen.
In the yard behind the house there was probably an outdoor fire pit with a large iron kettle suspended above it. This kettle was used for making soap, lard, and apple butter, and on wash days for boiling clothes. There was also a smokehouse and tobacco-drying and stripping shed.