I know a lot of you have been curious about where
Stone Walls come from seeing them in the Northwestern part
of New England. When I was growing up there I was
interested myself, and as it turned out I ended up working
with Stone in many jobs over the years as a contractor.
This little story tells a little bit of their origins.....
When Warren was first being settled in the 1700's
there were just hills and forests. In order to live here,
the settlers had to clear the land. They began by cutting down trees and digging up roots. Next were the rocks and the stones which was a monumental job at the time. They had no tractors, no cross-cut saws, no earth diggers, everything had to be done by physical strength. Many of them got fed up with the
interminable job and left for Ohio.
The ones who stayed just kept clearing the land and
pulling up stones. did they even have a crowbar at the time?
Probably not, but used strong saplings instead. The rocks and stones were thrown into a pile and later maneuvered to one
side. this is where the Oxen came in handy. If a rock needed moving and the men couldn't budge it, they put a large heavy
iron chain around it, attaching it to a ring in the Ox Yoke.
Being slow and steady workers, the Oxen gradually moved the rock which was then rolled onto a Stone Boat. What's a 'Stone
Boat?' It is a lumber or planks, fastened together with wooden
pegs, with an iron ring attached to the front. The wood was
usually hewn so that curved slightly upward. An iron chain
connected the ring on the stone boat to the ring on the Ox Yoke. The team would driven to a place where they wanted the wall. Rock after rock was piled up and that is where you see
the stonewalls today.
It is interesting to notice these walls which were originally used for keeping animals in a field or pasture. But now where
there used to be ploughed fields for grain and gardens there
are just forests of trees. Hard to imagine that some of the stone walls once contained hay. For instance, on Route 45, a little
distance from the Town garage, are several stonewalls going up the hill. Herb Curtiss once said that all the property as far south as where Sackett Hill meets Route 45 was once all open space.
The stones seem to grow. Any homeowner in Warren will tell you that, because when they start mowing their lawns in the Spring they will find stone cropping up that weren't there last year.
Upon returning to Warren after being away for several years, those stonewalls are a landmark of beauty, especially when there is a spattering of snow on them. New England is noted for stonewalls. It makes one marvel thinking of the back-breaking work the people went through to make this part of the country so picturesque........
CSV
If you recall in this story about the ones that gave up and moved to Ohio, they then established Warren Ohio.
I am so proud and happy that I have these writing's from my Aunt, without them myself and now many others wouldn't be enjoying a walk down memory lane which wonder through out Warren and parts of New Englands heritage........
