October 30 thru November 2, 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. Additional information can be checked out with the links to the right.

Saturday, October 30, 1886 --- Omar and Mills husk corn in the barn all morning. Henry cuts sleepers for the hog house. Omar draws them to the hog house, and Henry hews them and installs them. (I'm not sure what the sleepers are. This term usually refers to supports under the floor.) Omar takes another load of potatoes to Bloods in the afternoon. Sarah and Jen go to visit Jane Tenney.

Sunday, October 31, 1886 --- Bart is home to visit. Omar, Bart, Sarah and Henry go to church, and Henry and Sarah go to visit Bradley Graves after church. William Blodgett and his wife also go. Omar goes out at night, and Mills and Jen to to Bloods. Their oldest calf died today.

Monday, November 1, 1886 --- Omar takes another load of potatoes to Bloods, and Mills, Cad, and Henry pick up another 20 bushels of potatoes from the field. Mills buries the calf that died yesterday. Henry goes on working on the hog house floor, and "commences to lay plank". Susie Conley and Charles Conley visit in the afternoon/evening. Omar takes a second load of potatoes to Bloods, and gets back around 8PM.

Tuesday, November 2, 1886 --- Omar takes a "large" load of potatoes to Bloods in the forenoon, and draws corn to the barn in the afternoon. Henry finishes the hog house floor, and then moves his tool chest and his work bench into a shop that is upstairs over the hog house. (The hog house turns out to be a two story structure! The floor laid previously was probably the upstairs floor, and the sleepers are the support under the ground level floor)

October 26 thru 29, 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. Additional information can be checked out with the links to the right.

Tuesday, October 26, 1886 --- Omar takes two loads of potatoes to Bloods to D. Weld. He does not get a weigh bill to prove how many bushels of potatoes he delivered on the first load, so they try their best to duplicate the first load for the second trip to get an idea of how much has been delivered! Jen goes to visit the Darwin Marsh family with Old Molly and the buggy.

Wednesday, October 27, 1886 --- Henry lays a floor in the hog house. Omar takes two more loads of potatoes to Welds in Bloods. Jen takes Old Molly to the blacksmith (Avery) to get four shoes. Sarah is making a coat for Cad, and Mills works on husking corn.

Thursday, October 28, 1886 --- Omar takes one more load of potatoes to Bloods. Mills, Cad, and Henry, (with help from Omar when he gets back) pick cider apples and put them in one of the wagons.

Friday, October 29, 1886 --- Omar takes the cider apples to Bloods - 2125 pounds! He gets $4.25 for the load. That is about 35 bushels of apples. Omar takes another load of potatoes to Bloods in the afternoon. Henry works on mending shoes for Bart, and boots for Cad. Henry then puts a ridge board on the hog house, and trims the shingles along the edge of the roof. (Since the roof is finished, I'm not sure what the ridge board is... it would normally be a vertical board at the peak of the roof where the rafters join, but would surely need to be installed during the framing stage of the roof construction - not afterward?) Sarah goes to Naples to get dresses for Lois and Ettie.

October 22 thru 25, 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. Additional information can be checked out with the links to the right.

Friday October 22, 1886 -- Henry, with Cad's help, goes on shingling the hog house. Omar helps Ansel Tyler do threshing, and Mills husks corn. Sarah goes to Bloods and checks the price of potatoes - 31 cents a bushel from Briglin.

Saturday, October 23, 1886 --- Omar starts plowing the North East field. He also helps with shingling some after dinner. He then takes a grist of feed for the horses to Naples for grinding. Jen goes to Bloods to pick up Elder Hibbard at the train station. Henry works on the hog house "nearly all day" and gets it pretty much done except for one course of shingles. Elder Hibbard stays overnight with them.

Sunday, October 24, 1886 --- They go to meeting in the morning and evening - not much additional detail.

Monday, October 25, 1886 --- Omar and Mills put up firewood in the wood house for the winter until around noon. They then put up a load of potatoes for Weld and Company. Henry has arranged to sell them 500 bushels to be delivered as soon as they can haul them to Bloods. According the the ledger entries from later in November, Henry has sold the 500 bushels at 33 cents a bushel -rather than the 31 cents a bushel offered by Briglin. He collects $165 from Weld and Co. for the potatoes - $100 on November 9th, and $65 on November 22nd. Sarah and Henry go to a surprise (party) in the evening at James Chapman's.

October 18 thru 21, 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. Additional information can be checked out with the links to the right.

Monday, October 18, 1886 --- Omar and Mills husk corn, and Henry works on repairing shoes until around noon when Aunt Catherine Weld comes by and wants him to go to Ira Polmateer's in Ingleside. He takes along a tank, and gets 5 gallons of oil at James Avery's blacksmith shop. Henry's sister Prudence and her husband Arnold Fowler came to visit in the afternoon. Omar went to Naples at night.

Tuesday, October 19, 1886 --- Omar, Mills, and Cad dig potatoes, and Henry works on the roof of the hog house, getting the rafters up and half the roof boards done. Henry sorts corn after lunch, and carries it to the corn house - about 20 bushels. Henry goes to Naples in the afternoon, with a grist of corn and wheat. He buys a pair of boots for Mills for $3.25, and gets a piece of sole leather for 60 cents for shoe repair. He returns home and continues work on the hog house.

Wednesday, October 20, 1886 --- Henry finishes the roof boards on the hog house, and trims the ends flush for the cornice. The cornice is a board along the top edge of the wall where the roof meets the walls. Omar and Mills continue digging potatoes - 105 bushels - all done but the Jumbos (?). Henry husks more corn. Ellen (Henry's sister?) came by and bought a sac of peaches and pears for drying.

Thursday, October 21, 1886 --- Omar and Mills dig potatoes - 69 bushels of Jumbos. They also cover all the heaps of potatoes but one of Callum's Superb potatoes (presumably these are the ones referred to as Jumbos? - see note below - could not find picture.)

Callum's Superb. — Excellent potato, large and oblong, smooth, regular and sound

flesh color, resembling Early Rose, with well marked eyes, very few culls

Oman and Mills draw corn into the barn in the afternoon, and also take shingles to the hog house. Henry gets the hog house nearly ready for shingling.

October 14 thru 17, 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. Additional information can be checked out with the links to the right.

Thursday, October 14, 1886 --- Omar and Mills dig and pick up 75 bushels of potatoes in the forenoon. Henry husks some corn, and picks up apples. Sarah goes to visit Catharine Weld but does not get any further than the Blodgett's place. Henry fixes the hog pen, and moves the small pigs.

Friday, October 15, 1886 --- Omar and Mills dig potatoes again, and Henry husks more corn. Sarah goes to Wayland to her daughter's place and gets 28 3/4 pounds of fresh shoulder meat - pork. Aaron Putnam and his wife visit. He goes on to Naples, and his wife Adah stays to visit. She and Sarah go to Nickleses toward evening. Henry goes to Ingleside, and buys some boot blacking from Wyman Drake for 6 cents. ( 59 years before the birth of his great great grandson Donald - Me!)

Saturday, October 16, 1886 --- First hard frost of the year. Omar digs potatoes, and Mills piles them. Henry covers them - presumably to prevent frost damage? Omar digs 97 bushels. Omar and Mills draw pumpkins in the afternoon - presumably for food in those days. Sarah and Henry go to Lodge meeting in the evening.

Sunday, October 17, 1886 --- Even harder frost - 26 degrees, and snow! Bart is home to visit, and they have sweet potatoes. Henry stays home from church because of the storm, and "a tendency to neuralgia in (his) face" He notes that there was no meeting or Sunday School due to the storm.

October 10 thru 13, 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. Additional information can be checked out with the links to the right.

Sunday, October 10, 1886 --- Sarah and Henry go to church in the morning and the evening. They go home with W.E.Weld after the morning service. Preaching at both services by Elder Childs. Henry declares both sermons "very good", but "in some respects a little short of that clearness and definite style usually adopted by him." Emphasis mine - Henry has some "clear and definite" ideas about all things religious - a trait passed on to his descendants. Omar takes Susie Conley on a drive to George Pulver's. (a date?)

Monday, October 11, 1886 --- Sarah does washing in the forenoon. Henry is not feeling well, but along with Omar and Mills, they work on the siding for the hog house. They get the north side, the east side, and the upper part of the west side done. Sarah takes some peaches to Bloods to Slatterys, and balances the accounts with them. Henry notes that Addamus did not give them a receipt, but did "tear the bill to pieces". Sarah also takes a half bushel of peaches to D.D.Clark who pays her for them.

Tuesday, October 12, 1886 --- Sarah goes to Wayland to visit Harm and Hattie and granddaughter Florence. She finds them well - recovered from their recent illness - and she bring Lois home. Omar and Mills dig potatoes all day, and Henry takes 213 feet of lumber to Griswold's mill, and has it planed and matched for a total cost of 64 cents. He visits "Asel"(?) Tyler to get money for his sister Prudence Fowler, but he is not at home. Henry goes home and continues work on the siding for the hog house.

Wednesday, October 13, 1886 --- Henry finishes the siding, and cuts "ganes" in the plates for the rafters. Omar and Mills dig 108 bushels of potatoes, and pile them for drying. Henry goes to Bloods and gets 213 feet of Hemlock lumber at $1 per hundred feet, and put it on account. He also took a sample of his barley to Briglins, and shows it to Booon, but they are not buying barley.

October 6 thru 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. Additional information can be checked out with the links to the right.

Wednesday - October 6, 1886 --- First light frost! Omar and Mills dig potatoes in the forenoon, and dig out an area for foundation for a new hog house in the afternoon. Henry has laid out the position for the hog house and gets the abutments partially laid. I suspect abutments would be masonry or stone corners to support the wood structure? Omar and Mills draw the lumber for the frame to the site.... possibly the lumber Henry bought a few days ago? Sarah takes 1/2 bushel of peaches to Mrs. Darwin Marsh and gets 75 cents for them. Henry has 4 new shoes put on Old Kitt - one of the horses. Ettie returns home from somewhere?

Thursday - October 7, 1886 --- Omar, Mills, and Henry frame up the hog house. Omar and Mills then pick apples in the "old orchard". Henry goes on working on the hog house till nearly dark, and then he and Sarah go to prayer meeting. Henry buys a box of matches from Wyman Drake for 6 cents. He also gets a "postal" from his brother Robert, and another from his sister Prudie. The post office was in Ingleside - the original post office boxes are in display at the Rochester Museum and Science Center in Rochester, NY.

Friday - October 8, 1886 --- Omar and Mills store the apples in the cellar, and then draw some scantling for the frame of the hog house. (Scantling is an old term for what we would currently call a 2x4 - used as a stud or rafter in framing.) Sarah goes to Bloods and sells a half bushel of Blood Peaches to Slatterys for $2 per bushel... the Crawford peaches sell for $1.50/bushel. (Blood peaches have a more reddish color to the skin and fruit.) Henry finishes framing the hog house, and gets part of the siding on. Omar goes to Naples, and takes 72 cents to pay Doughty for the canning jars, and buys 6 pounds of 30 penny nails. (a 30 penny nail is about 4 1/2" long)

Saturday - October 9, 1886 --- Henry finishes siding the hog house. Omar and Mills draw corn to the barn in the forenoon, and Omar goes to the Fair in Naples in the afternoon. Sarah has some sewing to do, so Henry and Sarah do not go to the Fair, but they go to Ingleside in the evening to a "Special". I have no idea what a "Special" is?? Omar goes to Charles Conley's in the evening. After a light frost on Wednesday morning, it goes up to 78 today! (Good old upstate New York weather)

October 2 thru 5, 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. Additional information can be checked out with the links to the right.

Saturday, October 2, 1886 -- Omar and Mills dig potatoes. Henry goes to Naples with a grist of old corn (last year's crop) for the old sow, and 4 bushels of feed for the cows and horses, and 2 bushels of wheat for flour for the family. (Sounds like a lot of flour, but remember they are making bread, cake, cookies, etc. for 12 people plus lots of guests.) Sarah and Henry go to fellowship meeting in the afternoon, and take tea with Brother William Borden - probably a visiting preacher. They go to Grange meeting in the evening - "full meeting and interesting."

Sunday, October 3, 1886 --- Omar, Bart, and Mills walk to Ingleside to church. Sarah and Henry drive a buggy with John (horse). Elder Hibbard preached a good sermon on the last chapter of Ecclesiastes. (Fear God, and keep his commandments; for that is the whole duty of everyone" (12:13).) Uncle Augustus Weld (Sarah's uncle) and wife Mary, and Charles Conley and family come home with them for dinner. Charles Conley pays $4 he owes Henry. In the evening Henry and Sarah go to church.

Monday, October 4, 1886 --- Henry picks and crates a bushel of peaches to send to his brother Robert in Mansfield, PA. He takes John (horse) to Ingleside for two shoes, and gets a ring put into the clasp on the whiffletree. (I've put a picture of a whiffletree on here before, but here it is again - also called a swingltree or a singletree .... a pivoting system for hitching horses to buggies, wagons, plows, etc.)
Henry takes the peaches to Bloods to the train depot to ship to Mansfield for his brother.... cost to ship them - 60 cents. He also buys some lumber from D. Weld, and a basket from Cornishes. Sarah does the wash, and Ettie is helping Julia Marsh.

Tuesday, October 5,1886 --- Henry goes to Naples to the mill for grinding his grain for animal feed. He buys 6 two quart jars at J. Doughty's. He then goes to Bloods with a half bushel of peaches for D. Borden, and buys some lumber from D. Weld. Henry has D. Weld credit him with $1.50 from D.D.Clark's account. Account of lumber transaction in memo section of diary - see picture below. This lumber purchase information is evidently carried over from yesterday. (click on picture for bigger easier to read version)

September 28 thru October 1, 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. Additional information can be checked out with the links to the right.

Tuesday - September 28, 1886 --- Omar and Mills go on fixing the fence - presumably the one the cows got out through a few days ago? Henry and Sarah go to Wayland to check on his daughter Hattie, husband Harm, and granddaughter Florence who were very sick. Florence is feeling better, and Harm is still sick, but much better. They return home to find that Frank Simmons and his wife had been there and got a half bushel of peaches, and had left just before Henry and Sarah got home. Henry works some on the road work that he does in lieu of taxes. Waddamus stays overnight again, and he and Henry do some trading. Waddamus gets a bushel of peaches, and Henry gets a pair of suspenders, and one necktie? Waddamus must be a traveling peddler?

Wednesday - September 29, 1886 --- Henry finishes his roadwork, and comments that Mrs. Lawyer, and Robert Smith still have some roadwork to complete? Henry goes to Bloods, and takes Jen to help Aunt Fanny for a few days. He buys a half pint of butter color from H.C.Pierce for 35 cents. He goes to see D. Weld about some boards for the fence, but he doesn't have any. He also sends his sister Prudie a letter about the peaches he has.

Thursday - September 30, 1886 --- Sarah goes to Wayland to check on Harm and Hattie and Florence, and finds them all doing better. Henry is not feeling to well again (or still) but still manages to put a window in the end of the barn. Omar and Mills dig 26 bushels of potatoes, and continue the fence repairs.

Friday - October 1, 1886 --- Omar and Mills continue digging potatoes. Susie Conley, Susan Hill (Sarah's niece), and Florence Addams come to visit. Henry picks a bushel of peaches and takes them to Stephen Stanton. He sells 1/4 bushel of peaches to Florence Addams, and a bushel and a half of Crawfords to D.D. Clark. Prudence Fowler comes by and gets a half bushel of peaches. Henry has sold a lot of peaches. Seems like peaches must not be too common in the area because Henry is selling them to a lot of his neighbors..... not shipping them off to other areas by train like the raspberries.