Thursday, April 9, 2009

April 9 thru April 12, 1886

As always, click on the picture to enlarge for easier reading of original. Feel free to contact me with corrections, additional information, or comments. Click on the map link to the right of this entry to see more about where places are. Other information can be checked out with the links to the right, including a great family picture of everybody circa 1886!

Friday - Henry Terney comes over and gets lumber to make a cupboard. Hall Bessinnett leaves - trading for his night's stay. Henry and Sarah go to Naples to Jordan Brothers. They buy 10 cents worth of round iron, 35 cents worth of green paint, and a part for the jointer ( a wood working tool) - total 70 cents. Jordan Brothers is a pretty full service hardware place, selling Stoves, Horse Blankets, Japanese Robes, Doors, Windows, Sash, Glass Putty, Gas Pipes, Hubbard Curbs, and Rubber Pumps. No idea what Hubbard Curbs, Japanese Robes, and Rubber Pumps are? I'm thinking it is a possibility that a rubber pump might have been a water pump with a rubber valve flap instead of leather? Omar and Mills clean wheat for grist. Omar, Mills, and Jen go to a Sugar party --- Maple Sugar/Syrup celebration. I'd been wondering why there had been no mention of maple sugaring yet? Lots of sugar maple trees in the area.

Ad in the Neopolitan Record in February 1886 for Jordan Brothers.

Saturday - Omar does plowing, and sows plaster on winter wheat. I'm guessing plaster could have been a source of lime to adjust the pH of acidic soil. Charles Crowley comes and buys 6 bushels of wheat at 90 cents a bushel.. "he don't pay for it" -- a favorite Henry line! Omar is plowing with a sidehill plow. The plow can be flipped over at the end of the row to cast all the furrows in one direction when plowing on hills. After another visit to the site of the Olney place last week, it looks like a sidehill plow would have been necessary on pretty much all of the land around their place! Omar also finished taking the winter insulation/banking away from the foundation of the house. I'm guessing that banking the house for the winter would have been more for keeping the cellar from freezing to protect the potatoes and apples stored there, than for keeping the living areas warm? Sarah makes soap, Jen does some baking, and Henry trims berry bushes.
One version of a "sidehill" plow.
Sunday - Henry stays home to "thoroughly" doctor Cad who now seems to have whatever has been making pretty much the whole family sick. Jane and Henry Terney come over after church. Elder Hibbard has covered Henry's Sunday school class. Cad feels better by night but remains ill for a few days.

Monday - Omar continues plowing. Mills feeds the cattle, and sets new berry roots in the places where they have died off over the winter. John Hoyt comes by to pick up the cow sold to the Washington Market in Naples last week - he pays the balance of $25 -- $32 total price for a "fatted" cow. Henry works on the berries, Jen does the wash, and now Sarah has the family cold!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

April 5 thru April 8, 1886

As always, click on the picture to enlarge for easier reading of original. Feel free to contact me with corrections, additional information, or comments. Click on the map link to the right of this entry to see more about where places are. Other information can be checked out with the links to the right, including a great family picture of everybody circa 1886!

Monday - They sell more hay. Must be the season for it! Henry is sowing grass seed, and Mills is plowing. Mr. Myers from Washington Market comes, and buys a cow -- probably to butcher to sell the meat? Total price of $32.

Tuesday - Aggie cow has a calf.... the birth goes well. It has been raining a while, and the cistern overflows. They all spend most of the day indoors with the bad weather... the creek is full, and rising. Omar, Lois, and Ettie are all feeling bad.

Wednesday - Stern Lyon picks up the hay they arranged on Monday ... 1200 pounds for $6.00. Sarah and Henry go visit the Terneys - they have a new baby colt. Omar, Lois, and Ettie are still not feeling well.

Thursday - Mills gets the wagon stuck while spreading manure. Mills and Henry move the "banking" away from the house. Probably hay piled up around the foundation to help insulate for the winter. I remember we still piled hay bales around the house for the winter when I was a kid. A peddlar (sic) from Rochester -Hall Bessinnett - stays with them overnight. Omar is feeling better, but Henry is getting sick now. Henry write a letter to somebody for Mr. Terney and himself.