January 15 through 18, 1886

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They go to visit the H. M. Ingraham family. This is actually his daughter Harriet Amelia, her husband Harmon M. Ingraham, and their daughter Florence J. who was about 2 years old at the time. By the end of the year she will be pregnant with Charles Byron. As far as I know, Henry always refers to them as the H. M. Ingraham family, and never mentions his granddaughter? They live in Wayland, NY - about 8 or 9 miles. Not sure how the roads went in those days. They stop in North Cohocton on the way home, and purchase Salt Petre, and "Tobacco Slim Jim". He mentions paying for both, indicating they probably had accounts at both places -- perhaps even bartered for some things? Salt Petre may have been for meat preservation, or possibly stump removal (I'm not sure they would have spent money on stump removal?) Can't find any info on the tobacco product. Maybe Henry smoked or chewed? Salt Petre was purchased at Carpenter's -- a store/drugstore run by Ezra S. Carpenter - Physician , Surgeon --- their family doctor.

Saturday, Jen gets a dress cut at Miss Arnold's - same place Sarah got a dress earlier in the week. Thinking back, I wonder if Miss Arnold knew how to measure and cut for clothing, but maybe folks sewed the clothes themselves? Probably commercial patterns weren't available. Cows are mentioned - another food source / product. They go to Grange later in the day, and get crackers, soda (baking soda I'm sure - definitely not Coca Cola!), and sugar somewhere. I think the Grange Hall was in Ingleside, and I think there was a general store there - corner of Maple and Babcock Rd? (Sarah's diary from the previous year mentions bartering eggs and butter for canning jars there.)

Note: Membership in the Grange organization is available to anyone who is interested in participating in making better communities. The Grange began as an agricultural organization at a time when agriculture was the primary occupation of rural citizens. Today the Grange still closely mirrors the makeup of our rural communities. Agriculture is still important to the Grange and its members in that the economic welfare of rural communities is still strongly influenced by the economic stability of agriculture.

They go to church on Sunday. Sermon on Luke 20 - render unto Caesar. Elder Lawton took a vote of congregation on whether they preferred responsive readings, or a scripture lesson. Not sure if that was just for the day, or was a vote on changing the order of service?

Monday, Henry helps Jen with the washing... he does the "pounding" and carrys out the water afterward. There would have been no machines to help --- water would have been heated in a big pot/boiler on the wood stove. Omar checks ice somewhere nearby -- finds it too thin for cutting and storing yet. I'm not sure exactly what Henry is thinking about when he mentions that "Omar was out last night. He is feeling very moderate" Maybe he thinks Omar was out drinking and had a bit of a hangover????? I'm sure he would have never mentioned it directly.

January 11 through 14, 1886

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More wheat taken to the mill for flour and feed. Sarah picks up the dress she was measured for last week. A check of the accounts at the end of this diary shows the dress cost 75 cents. I'll try to get the account pages posted to a separate web page for reference as we go along.

Tuesday, they butcher pigs - not sure how many --- lightest was 262 pounds, heaviest was 290. They get Head cheese, Sausage, Ham, Shoulder, Lard, Hocks, and I'm sure lots of stuff not mentioned, from the pigs. The actual butchering only takes 3 1/2 hours, but making the sausage, head cheese, etc. takes place over the next couple of days, along with preservation in barrels with salt.

Mart (?) Lawyer buys 1800 raspberry roots for $5. The Olney's lived on what is present day Lawyer Road.

They make sausage, etc on Wednesday... put up a cask of side meat, and 195 pounds of ham! Henry scalds a barrel for the hams and shoulders. While it is cold in January, this meat probably will last into warmer weather. 13 people probably go through food pretty fast though.

On Thursday, they go visit Aunt Mary and Uncle Augustus Weld. Augustus is Sarah's uncle - her Mother's younger brother. Sarah's Mother is Julia (Lydia) Matilda Weld Hill. Looks like Sarah is an only child, but Sarah's Mother is one of 14 children. Lots of aunts and uncles for these kids!

Just a quick person note ------ This is fun!!!!!

January 7 through 10, 1886

Another thing you don't just go to the store for... Sarah colors some yarn for socks. Both yarn and socks are not store bought! Next day - some preparation for butchering a hog for meat. Borrow a proper knife from a neighbor, and put hoops on a barrel for scalding the pig to remove the hair. When Lois gets sick, she gets Ealsworth pills (no idea), and a dose of Quinine. These days doctors seem to avoid Quinine! ..... followed by "one dose of Veratrum" -- still a standard Homeopathic medication today - intended for high blood pressure. They also apply hot flannel cloths. Lois recovers despite the treatments? This won't be the last odd medical treatment by methods considered to be incorrect, or even dangerous by today's standards. Note: Henry and Sarah sleep upstairs - presumably to let Lois stay warmer in their bed? This indicates they live in a two story home.

The pump freezes up on Sunday, and Omar goes to Bloods for a repair part. Just for the record, the pump would be a hand pump, probably outdoors? Bloods is a nearby community currently known as Atlanta, NY. Origin of the name seems to be unknown - possibly from a family name of the folks who ran the train depot there??? The depot is still standing today. My mother left for college from that same depot in 1944?

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January 3 through 6, 1886

Weather will be a big part of every day's entry. On a farm weather is very important. Henry stays home on Sunday instead of going to "meeting" because of the inclement weather.

On Monday, Henry works at "cobling and mending" things... Shoe repair for Bart, Stella, and Jen, and repair of a horse harness. A lot of things are made or repaired right at home. No quick trip to the store to buy a new one!

On Tuesday, Sarah and Henry go to town (Naples). 4 bushels of wheat gets them two bags of feed, and a bag of flour at Red Mill. Sarah gets button hole shears, and gets measured for a dress. Henry buys this diary for 45 cents!

Wednesday he and Sarah go visiting. Visiting is a common activity even though it involves pretty much the whole day or sometimes even overnight because transportation is horse and buggy, and even fairly short distances by today's standards involve a few hours of effort.

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January 1-2, 1886

You'll notice Henry will give a brief summary of the weather every day. As a farm family, pretty much all income, food, and other stuff, like heat, comes from the farm, and the weather is critical! The 4 cords of wood cut on New Year's Day, will heat their home. January 1 is definitely not a day off! Omar (24 years old), Bart (18 years old), and Mills (16 years old) are the three oldest sons. Bart is my great grandfather!

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Henry Cadmus Olney's blog will start January 1, 2009

That's Dad and me holding two diaries. I'm on the left with Henry's diary from 1886. Dad is holding Sarah's diary from 1885. I'll get to blogging Sarah's diary later --- but it is not so complete as Henry's -- some of my female friends suggest perhaps she had less time to keep a diary with 11 kids ages 3 to 24 in 1886! My sense is that neither of them had an easy life! And as you will see, Henry's daily entries are about 50 words long.... hardly a long break from the day's chores.

My plan is to publish Henry's diary as though it were a blog. This will be done with photos of the original diary. Each photo is of both sides of the open diary (4 days) - a quite small book, that cost him 45 cents.,, not a small amount in 1886! The diary also includes complete financial records for the year. I'm going to try to blog every 4 days, with the picture of that 4 days of diary entries, and any necessary notes from me to help explain things as I feel necessary or fun. I'll also try to establish a web page listing the family members, etc. to help make it easier to follow the daily events. I hope this is of interest to somebody out there... a real slice of life in rural upstate New York in 1886.

Check back on January 1st 2009 for Henry's blog. He would be amazed, both that anyone cared about his analog blog (diary), and that the world now allows for somebody in Japan or Portugal to read his words 123 years later!