The Log Cabin in America; From Pioneer Days to the Present
Weslager, C. A.
From Ground Zero Books, Ltd., Silver Spring, MD, U.S.A.
AbeBooks Seller Since August 14, 1998
Quantity: 1From Ground Zero Books, Ltd., Silver Spring, MD, U.S.A.
AbeBooks Seller Since August 14, 1998
Quantity: 1About this Item
xxv, [1], 382 pages. Illustrations. Notes. Index. Cover has slight wear and soiling. Minor edge soiling. Dr. Clinton A. Weslager was a History Professor Emeritus of Brandywine College of Widener University and was nationally known for his 24 books dealing with the early history of the Delaware valley, including Indian, Dutch, Swedish and English occupations. Known for his engaging writing style, Dr. Weslager was awarded the University of Delaware Medal of Distinction, and the DAR History Medal. He received two citations from the American Association of State and Local History, and was elected a Fellow of the Archaeological Society of New Jersey. In a writing career that spanned 50 years, C.A. Weslager, as he was known to his readers, wrote at least 15 major books and hundreds of pamphlets and articles on history and archeology, especially on local topics. Many of his books are now sought by collectors. Raised in Pittsburgh, Mr. Weslager earned a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Pittsburgh in 1933. About 1937, he joined the DuPont Co. in sales and moved to Richardson Park. He edited the firm's employee magazine, was national sales manager of the Automatic Chemical Specialities division, and was a fabrics and finishes marketing manager.After retiring from the firm in 1968, he taught Delaware history at Wesley College and the University of Delaware before joining the history faculty of Brandywine College north of Wilmington, which eventually became a branch of Widener University. When he retired in 1983, he was named professor emeritus. He also was a consultant with Reader's Digest, Temple University Press and the Smithsonian Institution. A log cabin is a dwelling constructed of logs, especially a less finished or architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first generation home building by settlers. In the present-day United States, settlers may have first constructed log cabins by 1638. Historians believe that the first log cabins built in North America were in the Swedish colony of Nya Sverige (New Sweden) in the Delaware River and Brandywine River valleys. Many of its colonists were actually Forest Finns, because Finland was an integrated part of Sweden at that time. New Sweden only briefly existed before it became the Dutch colony of New Netherland, which later became the English colony of New York. The Swedish-Finnish colonists' quick and easy construction techniques not only remained, but spread. Later German and Ukrainian immigrants also used this technique. The Scots and Scots-Irish had no tradition of building with logs, but they quickly adopted the method. The first English settlers did not widely use log cabins, building in forms more traditional to them. Few log cabins dating from the 18th century still stand, but they were often not intended as permanent dwellings. Possibly the oldest surviving log house in the United States is the C. A. Nothnagle Log House (ca. 1640) in New Jersey. Settlers often built log cabins as temporary homes to live in while constructing larger, permanent houses; then they often used the log cabins as outbuildings, such as barns or chicken coops.Log cabins were sometimes hewn on the outside so that siding might be applied; they also might be hewn inside and covered with a variety of materials, ranging from plaster over lath to wallpaper. The log cabin has been a symbol of humble origins in US politics since the early 19th century. Seven United States Presidents were born in log cabins, including Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, and James Buchanan. Although William Henry Harrison was not one of them, he and the Whigs during the 1840 presidential election were the first to use a log cabin as a symbol to show North Americans that he was a man of the people. Other candidates followed Harrison's example, making the idea of a log cabin a recurring theme in campaign biographies. Seller Inventory # 72386
Bibliographic Details
Title: The Log Cabin in America; From Pioneer Days ...
Publisher: Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ
Publication Date: 1969
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very good
Edition: Presumed first edition/first printing.
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