Forty-Four Years, the Life of a Hunter

Being Reminiscences of Meshach Browning, a Maryland Hunter

Meshach Browning

• Publisher: Left of Brain Books
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9781396319563
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Historical Biographies
• Index: History

This book, originally published in 1859, is the Autobiography of Meshach Browning; a Maryland hunter and trapper.
Born into humble circumstances and fatherless at two weeks old, Meshach grew up in a rural America, filled with the prospect of dangerous and wild adventure. However, Meshach did not go looking for one, he became a professional hunter and trapper as a means of livelihood.His story, told in simple words, is filled with heroic deeds such as battling mountain lions, discovering new plants and generally filled with vivid images and descriptions of a lone man hunting in the dangerous wild. Relying on his wits and skills to survive Browning will leave you excited and appreciative of a time that was simple, yet more complicated than our own. You will also find a sweet love story that will melt your heart.This book will give you an accurate description of what life looked like in the 1700 and 1800s. You'd be reading the words, not of a historian, or one of history's important men, but of a simple man who lived a remarkable life of adventure and strength.

CHAPTER I.

Birth and Parentage — Difficulties of his widowed Mother — Moves to the West — Accident on the Road — Settles on the Flintstone — Induced by an aunt, John Spurgin’s wife, to leave the maternal roof — Removes to Alleghany County, and settles in a small Cabin — Great abundance of Game — Again removes with his uncle to Monongahela County, Va. — Then again back to the Blooming Rose — Becomes acquainted with Mary McMullen, his future wife — Goes one quarter to School, being all his Education — Falls in love with Mary — Goes to see her at night, and the old man, her father, sets the dog on him, supposing him to be a prowling Wolf — Ludicrous scene in escaping — Aunt has an Heir, after twenty years’ Marriage, and treats the Author unkindly — First success in Deer Hunting — Aunt in an ill-humor strikes him with a heavy wooden shovel — Leaves his Uncle and Aunt — Goes hunting again, and kills a fine Buck, but his feet nearly frozen — Takes leave of his Betrothed — Both much affected.

I WAS born in Frederick County, in the State of Maryland, in the year of our Lord 1781. My father’s name was Joshua Browning, and my mother’s name was Nancy. He was a farmer with limited means, and, with his wife, resided on a small farm; having little to recommend them in this world but an unsullied name, and known only as being strictly honest, industrious, and truthful.

They lived a happy life together until they had four children—one daughter named Dorcas, and three sons, Joshua, Jeremiah, and myself, called Meshach. My mother became a widow when I was an infant of two weeks old; and, after the business of the estate was settled, there was but a trifle left for the support of the little family; and she was obliged to maintain herself and children as best she could.

But it does seem to me, that when persons are left in such distress, that kind Providence has always something in store to supply their necessities, as was the case in this instance.

My mother’s friends had all gone to the West, then so called,—I mean to the western part of Washington County, and had settled on the Flintstone and on Murley’s Branch, now in Alleghany County. But to follow them she had not the means. The next thing was, her neighbors advised her to put out her children to good places, and then she could see and attend to them. But this she refused to do, until she should try to keep them herself. But before she had rented a house and garden, she did consent to let a Mr. Aaron Lee have Jeremiah, to keep him until he was twenty-one years old.

Often and long did she rue that unthoughtful transaction. And it turned out that she never could, nor ever did get him home; he lived with that family until he was 16 or 17 years old, when he quit his place to shift for himself; but not before mother and the other three children left that country, and had gone to the West.

Mother managed by dint of industry and economy, with what my sister and Joshua could help, to keep us as well as other poor children; and sent sister to school one quarter, in which time she learned to spell and read a little in her primer. They worked together in the garden, and raised plenty of vegetables; and by spinning, sewing, and knitting, in which sister began to be helpful, they got along through three or four years. My mother was a woman of a medium height, strong and determined, but of very tender heart—rash when angry, out soon over, and kind again.

She continued in this situation until she found we were making nothing, and my sister was 16 or 17 years old, when a young man by the name of James Harvey then addressed her, and they were married, much against my mother’s will. Then it was that she determined to leave Frederick county, and go out to the backwoods. Shortly after, she wrote to her friends in the West that she wished to move out to them; and a brother-in-law of hers arranged to get a Mr. Jacobs, who lived in Oldtown, as he was coming from Baltimore with goods, to take our things in his wagon and help us as far as Oldtown, within a few miles of his house; and in a few days Mr. Jacobs’s wagoner, a large negro, called on us to go to the backwoods, then so called. We hurried and bustled into the wagon, while Joshua was sent to Mr. Lee’s for Jeremiah to accompany us; but, to our great disappointment and grief, he was not to be found. Having our property all in the wagon, off went the horses, with whip cracking, mother crying, negro cursing and swearing, until we were in the main road to Frederick—then the insolent negro became quiet; and an old man met us with another horse, to help out with our too heavy load.

We went on in good order until we reached Sideling Hill, where the road was very rough and rocky: by and by we arrived at a very sideling place, with a considerable precipice on our left—the wheels struck a rock on the other side, and away went wagon, horses, and all down the hill, rolling and smashing barrels of rum, hogsheads of sugar, sacks of salt, boxes of dry-goods, all tumbling through one another, smashing the bed of the wagon, and spilling rum, molasses, sugar, and all.

My frightened mother called out, “Where is Meshach?”—knowing that I was riding in the wagon when it turned the dreadful somerset. All was bustle and alarm, until at length I was found under some straw and rubbish, stunned, breathless, mangled, and black with suffocation. Here was despair and weeping from a mother, in a dense wood, with no help but her little Joshua, the old man, and that hateful negro. The wagon was broken to pieces, the left hind-wheel smashed, and entirely useless. The man applied the spilling rum to use in handsful, until life began to return; and as mother saw hopes of my returning to her bosom again, she became quieted.

The loading was found to be greatly damaged, with the loss of two barrels of rum, and a great quantity of sugar mixed with dirt and trash. The next task was to prepare some shelter for the night, and in the meantime to mend the broken wheel: it was, however, soon found that the wheel was so badly broken that it could not be mended; and then it was that the old gentleman struck on the following plan: he told the negro to cut down a small tree, put the butt on the foremost axle-tree, leave the top end on the ground, and lash the axle-tree fast on the dragging tree. Thus we made a substitute for the broken wheel. By this time night had come on us; a large fire was made, and my mother took her place by the root of a tree, with Joshua by her side, who was about twelve years old, and myself in her arms: she has often told me that she never closed her eyes until day-light appeared next morning; when we made a breakfast of bread, cheese, and molasses gathered from the smashed barrels, and flat and hollowing stones, where it was in puddles.

This hasty breakfast done, and everything made ready, the whip cracked again, and off we started, Joshua walking and my mother carrying me on her back: we had twelve or fifteen miles to travel before we would be in Oldtown. We proceeded on our journey slowly, reached our destination, and found ourselves in Oldtown. Mother much fatigued, worn down, and in low spirits; the wagon, old gentleman, and negro all gone off, and we three left alone in a strange country. But in the morning a neighbouring gentleman to her brother-in-law, whose name was Joseph Robinett, came by chance into the village to trade; and mother by some means found that he lived near her sister, and prevailed on him to assist her in getting me along to her friends; which place we reached a little after noon. Here we are at Murley’s Branch, and among our friends.

We remained here two or three weeks, until my wounds and bruises were well, or nearly so, when we went to my grandfather’s, on the head-waters of the Flintstone, and remained during that fall and winter. The spring following, mother’s friends took her to a small piece of vacant land that was too small to attract the notice of others, and no person had any claim to it: it was very good soil, and something over twenty acres. Here her friends built her up a neat little cabin, and placed herself and her children in it; and we then had a snug home of our own.

In a few weeks our sister came to us, having lost her husband, Mr. Harvey, who died the same winter we left Frederick county. She joined us, and to work went all hands; Joshua and mother to chopping and grubbing, and sister to picking up and burning the grubs and trash that lay over the ground; and soon they had four acres cleared off, and ready for planting corn. This done, they went into it altogether; dug holes for the hills of corn to be planted in, and planted as they went; and when they were done making holes, they were done planting also; and had filled with pumpkins, cucumbers, and such things as they knew would be useful for the table. Their friends helped, and soon it was under a good fence: then when the corn came out of the ground, all hands went into it, and cleaned out all the weeds, and dug up the ground between the hills, and in that way they raised nearly one hundred bushels of corn.

At this time I had an aunt living near, who was always teasing mother to let me stay with her for company for her, as she had no children. And at last mother yielded, and let me go with her; and I staid one summer with her and her husband, whose name was John Spurgin. He was a good-natured, kind man, but neglectful, lazy, and unlearned: they made it their aim to seduce me from my mother’s love and from my home, and take up my home with them; but took good care not to let mother get the least knowledge of their interested design.

They had me so well into their scheme, that I was ready for any movement they might wish me to undertake. So, in September, they had all things in readiness, and a young man to assist in driving their cattle and horses: they then proposed to me to go with them into the prettiest country in the world; and that I should be their adopted son, and all the cattle and horses we could raise should be mine; and that I could stand in the door and see the pretty deer sporting and playing in the glades; and as soon as I was big enough to shoot, I should have a nice rifle to shoot those deer.

Fired with such prospects of sport, I was ready and willing to undertake the journey forthwith. I was put to bed, and told to go to sleep, and they would wake me before day, and take an early start, so that my mother should have no chance of stopping me. Sure enough, I was awakened a long time before day-light; all was ready for a move, with three horses loaded, and the young man soon had the cattle ready to follow the horses. I was put on one horse, my aunt on another, and uncle drove the third; aunt in the lead. Off we went, as still as possible, that our movements should not be known to my mother until we would be sufficiently out of her power. On we went, without noise, over the mountains towards Cumberland; and, as the sun began to show its beautiful reflection on the high top of the Dan Mountain, westward of the town, we arrived in sight of the valley in which the town was situated. Here was a new scene to me entirely. The whole valley was covered with a dense fog—nothing was to be seen but the high tops of the western mountains, with here and there stripes of sun-light; whilst all around was in uproar, with cows bellowing, calves bleating, dogs barking, cocks crowing, and, in short, all sorts of noises. The fog was so heavy that I could not see any object until within a few paces of it. Here we halted for our breakfast. By that time the sun had driven away all the misty clouds, and the town was in plain view; and I think that there were not more than twenty or thirty houses, and they mostly cabins, surrounded by large corn-fields, containing heavy crops of corn.

Breakfast over, we resumed our march for the new country before us: on, on we went; and in the evening we found ourselves at the Little Crossings; here we halted for the night; the horses and cows were taken to pasture, for few houses of entertainment in those times kept oats or grain of any kind for feeding purposes, in summer, but depended altogether on grass. Supper being ready, we partook with others of a welcome meal, made up of buckwheat cakes, fresh fine butter, delicious honey-combs, venison steak, as also some fine jerk,¹ and sweet milk, of which we all took a good share.

We had our own bedding with us, which we laid down on the floor, and prepared for resting our tired limbs: soon we were down and sound asleep. The morning came, with a prospect of a good day; and, by the time I could see to walk, I was called up to fetch the cows, while my uncle saddled the horses, and got ready for breakfast. All this being done, and breakfast over, we bid good-bye to Little Crossings, and took the road again for the “Blooming Rose:” this place is a large tract of land, so called in consequence of the great variety of beautiful flowers that adorned the whole tract; and that part of Alleghany county is still known by that name. We travelled without halting, save to water our beasts, until late in the afternoon, when we arrived at the residence of my uncle’s father.

Here we halted for a month or two, until uncle should seek a home away in the glades of the Buffalo Marsh, where I was to see so many beautiful sights. After a long time of anxious delay, as I thought, and after two or three different visits to the intended home, he at last determined to make a start for it, much to my joy and satisfaction. This day brought us to a home entirely up to my greatest expectations; for then, although late in October, there was great abundance of pasture for our stock, and uncle had cut plenty of wild grass, the summer before, for all our stock through the coming winter; and we had an excellent log-cabin to live in. This cabin had been the residence of an old hunter, whose name was Augustian Friend, or “Old Teen Friend,” as he was called. He had squatted there, to hunt in those beautiful glades and the surrounding mountains; and he had left here to go on the Cheat River, to settle on a new place, where no other hunters would interfere with him. He left a fine potato patch and garden, which we took possession of as our own, and no person objected to our claiming the premises.

Here we were in the place I had so long been looking for, with so much anxiety; and I must say that what my uncle had told me as a truth was fully realized; for the country abounded with deer, bears, panthers, wolves, wild cats, catamounts, wild turkeys, foxes, rabbits, pheasants, partridges, wild bees, and in all the streams trout without number.

October being the beginning of the hunting season, my uncle commenced his task of laying in the winter’s provisions: some days he would hunt for deer, other days for bees; and, as he was most successful in bee-hunting, he spent more of his time in hunting bees than he did in pursuing the deer. Soon our table was abundantly supplied with venison and honey; and the high, fresh tame grass caused our cows to give large quantities of milk, from which aunt, who was a very industrious woman, made plenty of butter; and frequently a fat turkey being added to our table store, we began to think that there was not such a place to be found in all creation.

Things went on well enough until the news came to us that General St. Clair’s whole army had been defeated and cut to pieces. This was such frightening news, that aunt was almost ready to leave all, and seek some better place of safety; and indeed I believe uncle too was a little frightened. Be that as it may, he continued but a short time until he took up his march again for the “Blooming Rose.” In that neighbourhood there were some thirty or forty families, who were not so easily frightened. Here we continued until the next spring, being 1792; when uncle moved into Monongahela county, in Virginia, to a brother that he had living there. His name was James Spurgin: he was a business man, yet without any education, but managed his business well, and soon became a wealthy man. Those two married sisters, who were also sisters to my mother.

Here we all lived on the same farm. Uncle James’s family consisted of five children, two sons and three daughters, of whom I became dotingly fond; and when our family left theirs, I was sorely afflicted. We did not move more than two miles apart, and I was allowed to visit often. It gave me great joy to meet them, more especially the second daughter, who was about my age. So things continued, until uncle became restless, and, wishing to have another new home, determined to go back to the Blooming Rose again. This was a hard trial for me. I had all my playmates, and, the worst of all, my sweet cousin to leave. I was, as I thought, in a bad way. I had the cows to drive, and I got them in front, and pushed them hard, so that I could give vent to my feelings, for I was ashamed to be seen crying in the road. But by and by we arrived at our journey’s end. Here I was a stranger to everybody, and of course kept close at home for at least a month or two.

Our nearest neighbour was an Irish family by the name of McMullen. They had five children, viz., Mary, Hugh, Jane, John, and Thomas. The father’s name was James McMullen, and his wife’s name was Rachel. One day another boy and myself were in the woods near the old man’s farm, and our dog gave chase to something, we knew not what, and ran it into a hole in the ground. I sent the boy to McMullen’s for the loan of a mattock to dig out our game. We soon had the fellow out, and he was a very large ground hog. He gave our dog at least fifteen minutes’ hard fighting, and when the battle ended we went to the house to return the mattock. I sent the boy with it, as I was a stranger, and too bashful to be seen in a strange place. When the boy told that the ground hog was out with me, the three oldest children came to see the animal. Mary was then in her twelfth year, and I was six months older. She was a beautiful girl, and I was struck with her beauty, and soon get a small acquaintance with the family. I was at all times ready and willing to do anything that would please the old people. But soon there was a school to be made up, and my uncle signed me for three months, and, to my great pleasure, Mr. McMullen signed Mary and Hugh. This was just as I wished it to be, for they had to pass by our house on their way to and from school. In a short time they came, and off we went together, all merry and playful. All was as it should be for weeks and weeks, while I done everything I could to get into her favor, until the school broke up, for which I was very sorry.

I had learned finely, and Mary had taken every opportunity to assist me in my lessons, for she had been three months at school before the time we commenced together; and when we left school, I could read and write as well as she could. But never did a boy exert himself with more ambition than I did on that occasion, for I was determined to be as fast as herself at all events, and either Mary or I would be at the head of the class almost every night. This caused an intimacy between us that convinced me that my kind attention to her, as well as towards her brother Hugh, had made a very favorable impression on her young heart. I believe that her father had some idea of our friendship getting stronger than he wished to see it, and he took care to keep us at a distance as much as he could; but her mother and all the children were my friends. Mary and myself were at this time about fifteen years old, and had passed many pleasant hours in social pastime, unknown to her father. I would watch his movements closely, and, when I knew he would be from home at nights, I would go to see her and the family generally. But I am free to confess that if Mary had not been there, I should have saved myself the trouble of making those visits to the family. This was kept up until I was very nearly found out by her father.

He had gone from home, as I thought, for all night, and I concluded I would see Mary that night once more, and have a chat. Off I went, heart in hand, but being afraid her father would come home unexpectedly, and as I dreaded to be found in her company (my fears were more for her than myself), as I was apprehensive that he would treat her badly, and that would be worse than any punishment he could inflict on me. In order to be sure he was not at home, I went to the back window and peeped in, and saw the mother and family quietly sitting at work, but no old man. Taking it for granted he was not there, I was about to turn the corner to the door, when, to my utter confusion, “Bow! wow! wow!” barked...

Table of contents

• INTRODUCTION.
• CHAPTER I.
• CHAPTER II.
• CHAPTER III.
• CHAPTER IV.
• CHAPTER V.
• CHAPTER VI.
• CHAPTER VII.
• CHAPTER VIII.
• CHAPTER IX.
• CHAPTER X.
• CHAPTER XI.
• CHAPTER XII.
• CHAPTER XIII.
• CHAPTER XIV.
• CHAPTER XV.
• CHAPTER XVI.