John Janney
Family Structures
Kitchen
John Janney describes his family kitchen as 20' square and made out of logs. He also writes that one corner of the kitchen was partitioned off as a bedroom, and was used by one of the Janney family members or maybe a hired hand. The hearth occupied a whole wall for the kitchen and the chimney was built of stone. However, it was common to see kitchens with wood chimneys covered with clay (Waddle and Daub.)
The cooking and eating utensils were hung on the wall or stored on shelves. Janney describes kitchen chairs with splint bottoms and slat backs. He does not mention a table, but we can assume that there was one for serving dinners and preparing foods. The Janney family spent the evenings in the kitchen talking, spinning and reading.
Family House
Janney describes the first family house as a log cabin but they later built a house of hewn out logs with chinking between the logs (clay, mud and sticks.) The hewn out log house was a common structure found on Virginia farms. Houses were also constructed with split siding and shingles. The house may have had a complete or half loft used as a bedroom. Before John Janney was born the family built a six room stone house connected to the old cabin.
John's Bedroom
John Janney slept in the kitchen loft which had three beds and a chest. The loft was also used to store barrels of wheat and spinning wheels. Later, he moved into the main house and complained of the heat in the summer, and cold air and snow entering through the gable end in the winter.
