Friday, June 12, 2009

June 12 thru June 15, 1886

If you are new to this blog, the paragraph below appears in every entry to let folks know some basic information. If you are a regular, I've added a line at the end about a new picture of the Olney family that looks to be about 10-20 years later than the time of the diary... link is at the right!

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, and a picture of the whole family several years later - circa 1900 ???

Saturday -- The big week at the church continues. They go to meeting at 8AM again, and have another business meeting, with the business "nearly concluded" in the forenoon. Henry refers to the event as the "conference". They had refreshments in the hall around noon, and another conference meeting in the afternoon that lasted between two and three hours! Refreshments served again in the afternoon, and the men of the "Freewill Baptists" come to greet them. No mention of an evening service, but I would assume there was one.

(Don's note - The Ingleside Christian Conference was still being held in the late 1950's when I was a kid. Lots of sermons and meetings, with many guest preachers, dish to pass meals, etc. over several days as I remember. I remember them being great fun - you had to sit quietly through the church services, but the dish to pass meals were wonderful, and social stuff between meetings was great, including dozens of cousins and neighbor kids to play with! The tradition of guest preachers staying with church families was still going on then -- I remember in particular Reverend Wright who stayed at my Aunt Theresa's house, and took my cousin Leslie and I fishing! The only mention I can find when I Google "Ingleside Christian Conference" is a previous blog entry in this blog back in February. Possibly that was a meeting to plan the big summer event? I'll have to see if the church still has a summer conference?)

Sunday --- Brother Seers and his wife spent Saturday night with them, and they all go to meeting Sunday morning. The sermon is preached by Elder Jones in the forenoon service, followed by a short discourse by Elder Childs. Henry mentions that "there seems to be a little feeling concerning wine for communion which will be served tonight". I'm guessing that Elder Jones' sermon expressed support for wine for communion, and that Elder Childs discourse expressed a different point of view? (or visa versa?) I remember the discussion of wine vs. grape juice going on 70 years later when I was a kid! Elder Moore came home with them after the service, and then preached the evening service, with communion. By my count Henry has mentioned 7 Elders and a Brother in attendance at the conference. "Brother" might just be a term for fellow male church member?

Monday -- Back to business as ususal --- Omar cultivates corn and potatoes. Sarah is quite sick, with an attack of "cholera morbus". Sounds very drastic, but some research reveals this as a term used for what we call "flu" today. Taking out the "morbus" and "cholera" sort of makes it sound better? Sarah vomits about a dozen times, and Henry gives her cayenne pepper, and peach leaf tea. Henry sent for Dr. Fulkerson who came about 10PM. By then Sarah was feeling better, but the doctor fixed her some medicine, and she felt better by Tuesday.

Tuesday --- Sarah is feeling better. Jen goes to Naples to get a dress fitted, and takes a corn to the mill. Henry, Mills, and Cad hunt potato bugs. Cad doesn't get mentioned much. He is Henry Cadmus Olney Jr. The boys except for Omar, all use their middle names instead of their first names. As a 10 year old, he probably has regular chores that he does, but doesn't specifically help Henry with the "work" very much, and thus doesn't get mentioned in the diary often. However I suspect hunting potato bugs was perfect work for a 10 year old.

Don's note --- "Organic farming" techniques, like hand picking the potato bugs, were undoubtedly pretty much normal for the time. Farms were small, families were big, and chemical pesticides were not common!

Jen buys a pair of shoes at Storeys for $2.50.

Monday, June 8, 2009

June 8 thru June 11, 1886

If you are new to this blog, the paragraph below appears in every entry to let folks know some basic information. If you are a regular, I've added a line at the end about a new picture of the Olney family that looks to be about 10-20 years later than the time of the diary... link is at the right!

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, and NEW -picture of the whole family circa 1900-1910???

Tuesday ---- Henry begins work on the road along with several of their neighbors. .... Mart Lawyer, Richard Smith, and Frank Gardner. At least part of the annual tax bill was worked off by working on road repair and building. Henry works with a team and "scraper" for 3 days. Omar helps work out Henry's bill. Henry specifically mentions taxes - "Richard Smith works out tax on Marion Place" Sarah and Henry go to church in the evening - looks like the beginning of a special series of meetings? Sarah takes rods for carpet???

Wednesday --- More road work. Will Daniels joins the group. Omar works on the fence between the Tyler place and the Olney place. Omar and Jen go to meeting in the evening.

Thursday --- Henry kills a calf in the morning. They raised and butchered all their own meat, as well as bartering and selling meat, and livestock. Omar finishes the work on the Tyler/Olney line fence. He also does some mowing, and does some work in the grapes, and in the Grove. This is the first mention of the Grove? Henry goes to Bloods train station to get Elders G.B.Fuller, and Tryon, and Elder Fuller's wife. When they get back, Mills takes Mrs. Fuller to Naples, and while there, he exchanges a hat at Tobey and Reed, and also gets the $1 owed to Henry from the mistake on Monday. According to Friday's entry, there is another meeting Thursday night, with at least four Elders. Elder's Jones, Hibbard, and Tryon spend the night with the Olney's.

Friday --- The week at church is quite important. They have had meetings for three evenings, and they go to meeting at 8AM on Friday for a business meeting, and have dinner (noon?) and a serial supper at the hall in the evening, with a sermon by Elder Taylor. (A serial supper would usually be folks traveling from house to house with different food served at each home, but since Henry says it was at the hall, it must have been more like a pot luck dinner.) This makes a total of at least 5 Elders in attendance... Tyron, Taylor, Jones, Hibbard, and Fuller. Elders Jones, Tyron, and Hibbard spend Friday night with them. More on this series of meetings on Saturday and Sunday..... next entry.