Horticulture professor Stevenson Whitcomb Fletcher (1875-1971) headed Penn State University’s Horticulture Department (1917-1927). He served as vice-dean and director of research (1927-1940) and dean of the College of Agriculture (1940-1945).

Among his publications, Stevenson wrote Pennsylvania Agriculture and Country Life 1640-1840 and Pennsylvania Agriculture and Country Life 1840-1940, detailing the lives of the early settlers in Pennsylvania, and the many hardships they faced.

I’ve put together a small sample of his writings, first published in 1950. The hope is to provide a glimpse of the frontier family and a few of the adversities in their lives.

Pennsylvania Agriculture and Country Life

Farmers dominated the economic and political life of the province and state, partly because of their numerical preponderance. This was made possible not only by fertile soils and efficient farming but also by the substantial character of those who lived on the land.

The westward advance (of Pennsylvania pioneers) was in two stages, the hunting and trading frontier and the farming frontier. George Croghan was the outstanding Indian trader of colonial Pennsylvania; he traveled wilderness trails long before pioneer farmers made clearings. The Indian trail became the trader’s ‘trace’; later the trace was widened into a bridle path, then to a road. Most trading posts were located on the sites of Indian villages, usually at commanding points on streams. Hunters and traders were transients; they struck no roots into the soil.

The farming frontier, which was permanent, followed the trading frontier. The pioneering movement of. Germans and Scotch—Irish into Pennsylvania east of the Alleghenies occurred between 1690 and 1740; the trans-Allegheny migration between 1740 and 1790, and the settlement of northwestern Pennsylvania between 1790 and 1840.

The typical frontier family was young and poor. Only a small sum was needed to cover the cost of transportation and to maintain the family until the farm was self—supporting. (Pg. 60)

When the trail had been widened into a rough road a covered wagon was the standard vehicle of the pioneer. It was drawn by a team of horses or yoke of oxen, sometimes by a horse and an ox, or an ox and a cow. (Pg. 62)

No frontier farm could be wholly self-sufficient; it was necessary to barter for salt, iron, spices, glass and a few other necessities. Of these, salt was by far the most important. Sometimes a little could be secured from local salt licks but usually, it had to be imported for both family and livestock. Salt was a common unit of value on the frontier; it would buy supplies where money would not. During the Revolution, salt was so scarce that a bushel brought $200.

Pioneer farming was intimately associated with wildlife. Frontier farmers were almost as dependent for food on wildlife as on crops and livestock. Every farmer was a hunter and trapper—he had to be. Wildlife not only helped to feed and clothe his family but also supplied furs which could be bartered for supplies. In 1804 the wholesale prices of furs and pelts were: deer, 75 cents to $1.00; bear, $1.00 to $3.50; beaver, $1.00 to $2.50; otter, $1.50 to $4.00; red fox, $1.00 to $1.10; mink, 20 to 40 cents; muskrat, 25 to 30 cents (Pg. 67)

In western and northern Pennsylvania wolves continued to wreak havoc on flocks and herds until after 1840.

In 1840 the General Assembly passed “An Act to Encourage more Effectively the Destruction of Wolves and Panthers in the counties of Luzerne, Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike, Jefferson, McKean, Tioga, Potter, Bradford, and Monroe.” The bounty on a full-grown wolf then was $25; on a. wolf puppy, $12.50; on a full-grown panther, $16; on a puppy panther, $9.

Under the stimulus of these liberal bounties to hunters and trappers and by community wolf drives, wolves had been almost exterminated by 1860. The last bounties paid by counties for wolf scalps were Warren, 1866; McKean, 1868; Elk, 1877; Clearfield, 1881; Forest, 1884; Tioga, 1886; Potter, 1890. (Pg. 72)

Until after 1795, the overshadowing hazard of pioneer farming was fear of Indian attack.

Some settlers and their families found sanctuary in blockhouses and forts, but the majority were without protection. Harrowing tales of Indian atrocities are part of the history of all frontier counties. Pioneer farmers bore the brunt of Indian ferocity and protected the older settlements of the East from devastation. Their courage and resourcefulness are among the proud traditions of rural Pennsylvania.

(Pg. 76)

Sources: Pennsylvania Agriculture and Country Life 1640-1840 By Stevenson Whitcomb Fletcher; First Printing 1950 (Pages 60, 62, 67, 72, 76)

Photo Credit: Black Forest Trapper from Black Forest Souvenirs by Henry W. Shoemaker 1914