Remember when...

Our family cut firewood to heat our home in winter

I am old enough to remember when our family cut the firewood we used to heat our home all winter by hand. We also used firewood in our cook stove. Normally my mother and an older brother did the cutting. Since it was hard work and very strenuous, the cutting began in mid to late fall on a cold clear day. Some species of wood did not burn good or would burn too quickly, so the fire could not be “banked” to last all night long. Normally my brother would choose an oak tree, which was good fire wood, and fell it with an axe. Excess branches were removed with the axe. We then used a double crosscut saw. The saw was about four and one-half feet long with a wooden handle sitting on top at each end. The teeth of the saw were shaped so that the saw would cut when pulled in either direction. My mother and brother would then place the saw on the downed tree trunk and grasp the handles.

They would take turns pulling the saw toward themselves. Sawdust would fly and two people could saw up a tree in a short period of time. Coats were quickly removed and sweat was evident as the saw was pulled to saw up the tree. A saying attributed to Ben Franklin stated, “He who cuts his own fire wood, gets warm twice.”

Larger pieces of wood were stood on end and split with an axe. Split wood was used in the cook stove and used to start fires in the heating stove. The wood was stacked in a rick near the back door until it was used. My recollection is three ricks would last all winter.