A History of the Lumber Industry in the State of New York (Classic Reprint)

Book excerpt: Excerpt from A History of the Lumber Industry in the State of New YorkFrom the time when the pioneers first swung their axes in the primeval forests of New York, lumbermen have been closely connected with the industrial progress and development of the State. The first settler was the first lumberman; and his work commenced when he felled the trees to make a clearing in the forest for his cabin and his crops. Although this use of the ax alone would hardly constitute lumbering as understood to-day, still it was not many years until a sawmill appeared in each settlement and the lumber industry was formally inaugurated.Of necessity, the first colonists went without sawmills longer than the later ones. They made rough lumber for their houses, barns, and fences with their axes, supplemented at times by saws, large and small, worked by hand-power. But in the later settlements, which in the beginning of the last century included three-fourths of the State, a sawmill was built in each locality within ten or fifteen years after the first family moved in. In many instances the sawmill preceded the gristmill; and in a few places the erection of the mill antedated the advent of the first settlers.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.