See quotation, 1843.
1800. There was a deadening on C.’s land as early as 1769.—Addison’s ‘Reports,’ p. 306. (N.E.D.)
1843. If the majority of the trees are thus girdled [with deep cuts], the field is called—“a deadening,”—otherwise it is a clearing.—B. R. Hall (‘Robert Carlton’), ‘The New Purchase,’ i. 240.
1850. A few “deadnings,” or clearings, with here and there a log cabin, occupied by a sturdy squatter.—James Weir, ‘Lonz Powers,’ i. 51 (Phila.).
