including a golden eagle over the examination table. The building was moved to its present site in 1976 from New Bellsville.
On the other side of the blacksmith shop is the pioneer cabin, where you can pull up a threelegged stool and play a game of checkers on the front porch. The interior is a bountiful exhibit of an early household, with an inviting hearth outfitted with cooking utensils: a kettle hung on a fireplace crane to keep hot water ready; footed cast iron skillets and Dutch ovens for slow roasting venison or rabbits and squirrels; an early hand-crank coffee
bean roaster as well as a footwarmer. The bedstead has crossed rope to hold the mattress. The rope itself had to be tightened often so that the people sleeping together didn’ t sag into the center of the bed.“ Good night, sleep tight” comes to mind. And“ Don’ t let the bedbugs bite” refers to the mattress of straw-stuffed ticking that has become inhabited by insects seeking a home. An old remedy for bedbugs was to mix the straw with dried chestnut leaves.
The Brown County Historical Society was gifted with old smokehouse logs, which volunteers happily
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Sept./ Oct. 2021 • Our Brown County 17