Dr. Pound Pioneer Farmstead, Part VI

Dr. Joseph McKeaif Pound had a rich life and history. He was born in Jefferson County, Kentucky in 1826, and was the seventh of eleven children. His father, Jonathan Pound, was a veteran of the War of 1812 and the Black Hawk War. Mr. Pound moved his family about 1830 to Columbus, Adams County, Illinois. In 1846, America was at war with Mexico and Joseph Pound and his elder brother enlisted in the First Illinois Volunteers. The Volunteers traveled to Mississippi to board a boat to Port Lavaca, Texas. When the Volunteers arrived in Texas, they first marched to San Antonio and then headed to Montclova, Mexico to join up with General Zachary Taylor, and not knowing his rank, Robert E. Lee. His company was discharged in February 1847 and Dr. Pound returned to Illinois.

In October 1851 Joseph Pound began his two-year course to become a doctor at the Kentucky School Medicine. He traveled the Oregon Trail at some time and it is thought he made the trip between his medical school semesters. He met Jim Bridger on his Oregon trip and had some hair raising experiences with some wolves. One other piece of information - Dr. Pound was about 5' tall.

If you have finished gasping at the idea that a medical degree was granted after a two-year course, you might be interested in his apothecary.


The mortar and pestle were used to grind and mix his potions.




The metal canisters were used to ship drugs in the mail to Dr. Pound.

In addition to the pharmaceuticals in the medicine cabinet, Dr. Pound grew medicinal herbs.

A doctor on the frontier traveled on horseback in all kinds of weather and in territory where hostile Indians lived, hunted, and traveled. There were three tribes living in the area - Kiowa, Comanches, and Tonkawa. In fact, an Indian trail went past the house, but the Pounds were never attacked because he treated any and everyone who needed his services. He was respected and known to the Native Americans as a medicine man and he and his family were never harmed. There is a story that Dr. Pound was at a men's meeting in Dripping Springs when all horses were stolen but his by a band of Indians. In addition to being a doctor, Dr. Pound was a farmer/rancher. And, they were very active in building Dripping Springs for they were strong supports of education, church and founders of community organizations .

I certainly did not realize just how mobile the pioneers were if Dr. Pound's travels are any indication. He went from Kentucky to Illinois to Mississippi to Texas to Mexico to Illinois to Kentucky to Oregon to Mississippi to Texas. And, people, he was not traveling in a car, in a plane, or even by rail. It had to be walking, wagon, horse back and by water as in his trip to Texas from Mississippi when he was a Volunteer. Wouldn't you have liked to known this man, Sarah, and his family of nine?

Until next time, God bless.

Yellow Boots and Rain

Ever since I started blogging in November 2008, I've been crying about the drought with top soil blowing away, no grass, and dry creeks, but that has all changed. We've had seven inches of rain this month, and to celebrate the break in the drought, I bought these yellow boots. Somewhat conservative by nature, I almost bought the black pair but thought no way - yellow it is! My last pair of rubber boots were black and for boys. The store did not have my size and I was desperate for a pair at the time.


These fit well and are great for walking in mud, uneven ground, and over rocks. Aren't they great?!


I couldn't resist modeling them and hubby says I will not be overlooked. :D

Until next time, God bless.

Dr. Pound Pioneer Farmstead, Part V

At last, Sarah gets her long-awaited bedroom. As with all the other rooms in this pioneer family's home, the bedroom is multi-purposed. It not only served as the bedroom, but it was the sewing room and housed Dr. Pound's apothecary and medical instruments.


The mattress is a cloth 'ticking' stuffed with cotton bolls which were pulled off the farm's plants and cleaned. Notice that the right side of the headboard is cut off which again points out that if something did not fit a particular place it was modified. The photos on the bed are of two other doctors in the area, Dr. Woods of "True Women" fame and Dr. Steel of San Antonio, both of which served with Dr. Pound during the Civil War.


As previously mentioned in other parts of the series, all quilts were made by Sarah, daughters, and granddaughters.


This trunk is at the end of the bed and above is Dr. Pound's saddle bags, beaver top hat and some of the children's shoes.


Note the lighting apparatus on Mrs. Pound's dresser. How would you like to have this lighting while trying to do makeup, although I doubt very seriously Mrs. Pound used makeup. Nevertheless, these tiny oil lamps leave a lot to be desired by today's standards but probably were appreciated in that era. :D

The wardrobe with Mrs. Pound and daughters' dresses. The red dress was worn by one of the daughters, Georgia, as Grand Representative of Rhode Island in the Grand Chapter of Texas, Order of the Eastern Star.


Don't you just love this dress? It is so sweet.

You would have to allow extra time when dressing to get your shoes on with all the buttons.

Mrs. Pound's Sears & Roebuck sewing machine with the complete instruction manual.

Some of the windows in the bedroom and parlor go to the floor which brings the outside in so well.

Dr. Pound's apothecary and medical instruments with the next part of the series showing close ups.

The bedroom fireplace.

The next part is about Dr. Pound's apothecary, medical instruments, and pharmaceuticals. If you missed and are interested in the other parts, go here: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV.

Until next time, God bless.

Straight Out of the Camera Sunday

Murrieta's 365 has a Straight Out of the Camera Sunday meme for those photos that are so perfect that no tweaking is required.

I had a hard time choosing which photos to post and opted for these that were taken at the Dr. Pound Pioneer Farmstead Museum in Dripping Springs, Texas. I've been doing a series on the Pound House with the parlor and bedroom left to post. However, I liked this unusual hot house which is about 5 or 6 feet underground. A ladder is used to get down into it but I was unable to capture a photo of the ladder through the windows. The sun was too bright. The hot house faces South.

The main house is a little to the left and about 50-60 feet to the back of this structure.


We can learn a lot of green tips from our ancestors -- nothing was wasted as is pointed out in Part I, II, III and IV. Parts V and VI will be done this week.

Be sure to pop over here for the rest of SOOC Sunday photos.

Until next time, God bless.

Farmer's Market Challenge, Sept. 09

The Road to Here has a monthly Farmer's Market Challenge. Some of us have the most wonderful farmer's market while others (me) are somewhat limited. However, this is the first year for my little town's market and the drought pretty much wiped out many of the small farmers/gardeners. Baring droughts and severe weather, I expect our Farmer's Market to grow and it is to be held until there is nothing left to offer.

There were not very many vendors this time around.

I bought red cabbage, red onions, and some local honey from this vendor. He had the best selection.

Our local soap maker was at the market and I bought a bar of Brown Windsor for hubby.

To check out the markets around the nation and world, go here. But, I have to apologize for posting my photos a day late -- I've been doing some many different projects that I did not make the time to get this up on the correct day.

Until next time, God bless.

Straight Out of the Camera Sunday

Murietta 365's Sunday meme is for those photos that are so perfect that no tweaking is required. I had three. Pop over here to see more SOOC photos.

It is raining.

Bathroom update in progress.

Weed with stickers but the flower is pretty.

Until next time, God bless.

"Julia, Julia" . . .Food

The theme for the Brenda's Photo Challenge is "'Julia, Julia'. . .Food." Pop over here to see the other photos in the challenge.

I love a good laugh on myself and I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I do. I am not the most consistent cook. Some things come out just perfect on the first try and then other things come off the stove or out of the oven not so good. As a first time gardener, I might say the same about what I've raised.




I harvested a total of four eggplants, and I think these look pretty good.



Eggplant is one of those vegetables I'm trying to learn to like as well as cook. This is sort of the recipe; I had to improvise. Slice the eggplant; salt and pepper; mix up olive oil, garlic, and fresh basil; let it rest for an hour or so then brush on both sides of the eggplant. Broil it for ?? and sprinkle some Parmesan cheese a minute or so before removing from the oven. Well, I think I was suppose to peel the eggplant and perhaps salt both sides about 30 minutes before I brushed on the mixture. I'll try that next time.


My tomato harvest from five bushes.

A little background: my old breadmaker died and so I bought a new one. When I went to purchase the mix, the price was $3.59. It was $2.00 last year. I decided to make my own. All one had to do with the old breadmaker was put the ingredients in the pan, lock it down, punch one button and voila the machine started immediately. There was one more button controlling whether or not the bread was light, medium or dark. The new breadmaker has 16 different programs and so many other buttons that my eyes crossed. After carefully examining all bread recipes that came with the machine, I bought ingredients for a whole wheat loaf including Vital Wheat Gluten with Vitamin C, which also increases the protein value.

I read the instructions, followed them to a T, and performed Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, Step 4, i.e., the start button. Stepped back with anticipation of hearing the machine begin the process. I waited, waited, waited - 20 minutes passed. Pulled out the instructions, performed the steps again. Then waited, waited, waited - 25 minutes passed. I read the instructions again, unplugged the machine, waited 15 minutes, plugged it back in the socket. Performed Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, and pushed the start button. Nothing happened. I called the company. The male tech decided the machine was defective. But just before I dumped the ingredients, I chose the first program for white bread, pushed the start button and it started doing its thing. I called the company again and this time made contact with a female tech. She asked what program I using and told her the one for whole wheat at which time she mentioned a chart in the recipe book. We found the chart and the whole wheat program does not start for 30 minutes since it warms the ingredients before cranking up. Go figure. Now to give the male tech a break, the female tech said she had the machine over a weekend and happened to find the chart when she was trying out the breadmaker.

So what was I to do? Stay with the white bread program which has a much shorter time for mixing, kneading, and rising, etc.; was there any way I could start over again on the correct program; or should I take it out and do it manually? I opted to do it manually. It was noticeably dry for some reason and did not punch down like it should. Nevertheless, I pressed on. This is what came out of the oven. A floor tile would have broken if the loaf had been dropped. It looks like a moon rock - tasted pretty good if you had good teeth to chew, which I do. One piece and you did not feel hungry for hours. In fact, one piece for breakfast and no hunger pains until about 5 PM.

This loaf reminds me of a cake my youngest baked for a Cub Scout contest. It came out in chunks. He patched it together the best he could and smeared some frosting on it. It was so unique that the Cub Scout leader made up a special category after we quit laughing -- out of his sight and hearing I might add. Wooden spoons were the award designation and his read something like "most unusual cake" as opposed to most creative, most beautiful and whatever. This loaf of bread fits in his special category. lol

It has been two weeks since the whole wheat bread attempt, but I think this weekend is up for another try.

Until next time, God bless.

Dr. Pound Farmstead, Part IV

The parlor is where I will docent at Fall Fest on Saturday, September 26. There are many photographs on the wall about which I will have to read up on before next Saturday. The parlor and Sarah's long-awaited bedroom replaced the east side of the two cabin log structure somewhere between 1880 and 1890. It has a Victorian building style with a board and batten exterior siding, taller ceilings and windows. The Pounds now had a "fancy room" for entertaining and family gatherings.
There is a fireplace in every room. There is no information on the print above the fireplace but it complements the parlor beautifully. Dr. Pound's pipes are on display and the wallpaper is a very close match to the original. Interestingly in the restoration, there were four sets of re-paperings found with newspapers being used as insulation behind each time the walls were re- papered. It made for fascinating reading during the restoration.


Now imagine their delight at having light from above instead of candles or oil lamps to the side. The kerosene ceiling light operates on 3 pulleys, a center weight and chains. The lamp is pulled down, lit, and returned above. The ceiling is covered in canvas as was done originally.



This melodeon is a close model of the one given to the Pounds as a wedding present. The original is currently residing in Germany with a descendant and pictured on the left atop the instrument. Someone was kind enough to donate this one as an example of melodeons (similar to pump organs) of the era.


The piano was given to Sarah, Dr. Pound's wife, when the room was built. Mrs. Pound and her daughter, Georgia, taught lessons to many children in the area. Over 300 pieces of sheet music belonging to the family was found.


Dr. Pound used this rocker to seat his patients for treatment. Again, notice the quilt. Sarah and daughters' homemade quilts are everywhere. If I am not mistaken, this quilt was made with tobacco sacks. Dr. Pound was a pipe smoker and apparently early tobacco containers were sacks of printed material. Everything was "repurposed" as we say today.


Dr. Pound's recliner: it rocks, the footrest slides up under the chair, has springs and casters, and is adjustable. It looks a little uncomfortable to me without padding; however, I suspect one of Sarah's quilts was used for cushioning.


There isn't any information that I've found on this chair but thought it most unusual since the seat is only about four inches from the floor. :D

The next part is the bedroom. Actually, I have to go back to photograph the bed; tomorrow hopefully. I was so caught up in other parts of the room that I forgot to take a picture of the bed. With a little more experience in blog matters, surely I'll get more organized and develop an eye for photographing all the right things. lol

Thanks to all for your encouraging comments on the previous parts.

Until next time, God bless.

Part I
Part II
Part III

Skywatch Friday

After several days of much need rain, which hopefully broke the drought, we had this sunset. The clouds hung around for about three days after the rain.

Click here to see more skies from the world over.

The Dr. Pound Pioneer Farmstead series will resume in the next blog posting. If interested, read Part I, Part II, and Part III.

Until next time, God bless.

Dr. Pound Farmstead, Part III

We are not sure when the dining room addition was done, but it has some very unique features. One such feature is the extra large fireplace on the left. It is a double fire place with the other side in the original log cabin. The dining room side was made extra large to accommodate cooking, heating, and a large pot for boiling water to wash clothes in homemade lye soap.

The table is thought to have been brought from Mississippi when the Pounds moved to Texas in 1853-54. The table is walnut with a center support to enable it to hold many leaves; there are three leaves in it now. Again, everything is used. The tablecloth is made up of flour sack cloth crocheted together with feed sack string. It is delicate and lovely. The chairs also made the trip from Mississippi and are inlaid with burl walnut. The dishes and silverware all belonged to the Pound family.

Chair inlaid with burl walnut.


The large wooden fork was used to agitate the clothes in the boiling wash water.

This a storage cabinet for potatoes, flour, possibly apples, etc. There is another pie safe in this room which I did not think to photograph, but it is a little finer than the one in the living area. Since there was no refrigeration, everything left over had to be protected from mice and flies.

This is another unique feature in the dining room: an inside bell jar cistern for collecting rain water. Dr. Pound had it placed in the wall so water could be drawn without going outside. This was a very good idea for reasons of weather, convenience, night crawlers such as rattlesnakes, and yes, if hostiles were in the immediate area. Texas was a very dangerous place in which to live at this time in our history.

Here is the other side of the cistern.

The Kitchen

In Texas and throughout the southern states kitchens were a separate building because of the danger of fire and the summer heat. There was great excitement when a kitchen was attached to the house. In fact, I know that well because when I was about 5 or 6 I visited a great aunt and her family in Marshall, Texas. The kitchen had just been attached to the house that year and everyone was beside themselves with delight. :D


There is no date as to when the kitchen was attached; however, the stove is not the original but very close in age and type.

There is a waffle iron, frying pans, irons for ironing clothes on the stove and a washboard off to the side. The kitchen is really small. BTW, I remember my grandmother cooking on an iron stove. She did not want one of those newfangled ones. :D

No one know how old this coffee grinder is, but it is quite old. And, it looks as if there is a can of chewing tobacco next to it.

No corner is wasted. Above are two butter molds, butter paddles, and a variety of other cooking utensils.


Part IV is the parlor, Part V is Sarah Pound's long-awaited bedroom, and Part VI is Dr. Pound's collection of the tools of his trade and his pharmacy.

Until next time, God bless.

Part I
Part II