While engaged in the search for information for past local history, the following came to light.
It was of Raymondtown and happened here as our old timers had ingenuity, a sense of humor and a cooperative spirit.
Wood was essential to the early settlers of Raymond and much of the summer months were spent building wood piles to heat homes during the colder winter months. SUBMITTED PHOTO |
Taking the person who offered at his word, he enlisted the aid of friends and neighbors, built a sled of two trees over 30 feet long for runners, a platform between them of equally adequate proportions, and went to the mill for loading.
They pitched into the pile and what they considered to be a reasonable load was the whole pile, some 40 cords, which was hauled to the parsonage with 160 oxen hitched four abreast, a line of pairs of oxen for each runner. Needless to say, the local parson had plenty of fuel for some time, the participants had the satisfaction of a job well done, and the mill owner had room in his yard all over again while contemplating his generosity.
Wood was essential to early settlers and the occupation of “gumming” the spruce forests or “pitching” the pine woodlands for both personal and business quickly arose.
When the bark or cambium layer of a coniferous tree is damaged there is a bleeding of the internal sap, most profuse in the spring of the year when new growth is being fed or stimulated. This is comparable to the sap tapped from deciduous maple trees that provides the makings of delicious maple syrup or sugar as a home-grown substitute for the once expensive and scarce raw or refined sugar imported from the more tropical climates.
Though bitter in taste rather than sweet, spruce or pine products had many medicinal uses that have now been replaced by the multitude of synthetic replacements that make us all so healthy today.
The collection of resin bleeding from these coniferous trees, caused by natural damage or intentional stripping of the bark during timber harvesting, was once a productive enterprise as was the tapping of the maple tree of the north and the rubber tree of the tropics. It was a profitable sideline for the many men who labored in the woods, guided hunters or fishermen, or those who were familiar with the lore of the woodlands when there was slack time in their normal activities.
For this work, little was needed other than the investment of a little time and the property’s ownership was of little importance.
Items made from wood were in great quantities in 1700s-era Raymond. The ax handle was a tool that was in continuous use in every household and occupation. Raymond even had its own ax handle factory, one of which currently remains as a garage on Main Street but was previously located on Panther Run.
But changing times and the development of more sophisticated design or heating materials made residents less dependent upon wood and wood products.
Today more and more of our cleared lands are returning to forest although hardly back to the quality and size once available and important to the growth of Raymond and the country.
This article was written by the late Ernest H. Knight, one of the founders of the Raymond-Casco Historical Society and contained in his book “Historical Gems of Raymond and Casco.” It was submitted by the Raymond-Casco Historical Society and articles about Raymond history from the historical society will appear regularly in The Windham Eagle newspaper. To find out more about the Raymond-Casco Historical Society, call Frank McDermott at 207-310-0340. <