Buying and selling furs has been a part of the history of this region for centuries, going as far back as the 17th century before the European presence. Along the Monongahela and Ohio rivers, the Native Americans were involved in the fur trade, an enterprise that only increased as Europeans arrived in the lands west of the Allegheny Mountains.
Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, fur was a hot commodity. It could be used for clothing on the frontier and was traded and exported back to Europe.
Even as cities and industry developed in the region, many hunted and trapped to harvest furs to supplement their income. This practice is still carried on today, though on a much smaller scale.
Our featured artifact this month is a broad side sent out for 1889-1890 by J. K. Cilley & Co. Dealers and Exporters in Raw Furs and Ginseng Etc. This advertisement lists the prices they are willing to pay farmers and trappers for their pelts.
In western Pennsylvania in 1890, a good raccoon pelt would bring ninety cents, a fox would bring eighty cents, muskrats twenty-four cents, beaver up to eight dollars and ginseng, a root many still hunted for in the woods, would bring up to three dollars a pound. All very good prices for the day, and an income that helped many a Greene County farmer through the winters.
There are various hunting clubs in Greene County today that focus on hunting fur bearing animals such as raccoon and rabbit. These clubs often host competitions between handlers and dogs to see who is best at finding their game. Though most competition hunts no longer involve the actual harvesting of fur, it is a call back to our earlier past when hunting was a form of survival.
This broadside is just a small glimpse into that past, and a hint of what it may have been like to live in rural Greene County in the late 19th century.
Please check out the GCHS Facebook page to stay up to date on our current projects and online activities. Upcoming presentations include Frank Lloyd Wright in the 1930s and RMS Titanic. Opening day for 2022 is April 30.
