O.T. - Burning old siding in woodstoves

This one is probably best directed to the older set, although anyone"s advice would be appreciated. This past summer I stripped old wood siding from a couple of walls in my barn (there wasn"t much left) and resided with new wood siding. The barn dates back to before 1900, but the siding was probably last replaced in the 1950"s (just a guess). This winter I decided to cut up the scrap siding to use as kindling (I have a woodstove and an indoor wood boiler). When I started cutting it, I thought I smelled that all-too-familiar smell of creosote. If that"s the case, I definitely wouldn"t want to burn it.

My question is: was it standard practice to coat or otherwise treat wood siding with creosote back in those days? I thought some of the wood gave off that smell and some didn"t. Would the creosote have been brushed on after the siding was purchased or did it come pre-treated?

Any advice would be appreciated. I apologize for the O.T. post.