West Liberty History 1838-1938

Source: One Hundred Years of History
* Commemorating a Century of Progress in the West Liberty Community * WEST LIBERTY, IOWA
LOG CABIN HISTORY

Chapter IV

A LOG CABIN

It will perhaps be of interest to many of the present day to see a picture of a typical house of those days. It was before the time of saw mills in the territory, and the houses were built of logs. Suitable trees were felled and cut in proper lengths; then if time did not press, two parallel sides of the logs were flattened with a broad ax; otherwise they were laid up round, notches being cut near the ends where they would lap, and then laid up cob-house fashion till the required height was reached, when the top was drawn in with smaller logs, making a slope for the roof. On these were laid clapboards; that is, boards split from logs, about four feet in length and an inch or less in thickness. On top of these and to hold them in place were placed other logs, fastened down with wooden pins. One can conjecture how such a roof would keep out an Iowa storm. The orifices between the logs would be chinked with blocks of wood and plastered with clay. A place for a door would be cut in one end and a door of split slabs pinned together fitted to it and held in place by wooden hinges. Also short pieces of logs would be cut away and the orifices covered with oiled paper to admit the light. The floor---if the cabin boasted one---was made of split logs, the flat side up and smoothed off with the adz. Then at the back end of the house a fire place would be built and a stick and clay chimney erected, and the house was ready for occupancy. The door fastened on the inside with a wooden latch, from which a string was passed to the outside by which it could be raised and the door opened from without. At night, or when the occupants desired seclusion, the string would be drawn in and all would be secure; but it was a law of frontier hospitality that the "latch string should always be out." The house frequently contained but one room, and rarely more than two, and a low attic, reached by a ladder, often placed on the outside of the house. But all were not of these descriptions, for some boasted of two stories, and a stairway within, and glass windows, with board floors and doors; but these were the aristocratic mansions of the times, and were rarely met with.

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