January 31 through February 3, 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.

Sunday is a full day of church... looks like they go to their regular church, then go to Methodist meeting in the afternoon, stay for some sort of class, and to to prayer meeting in the evening. I'm not sure where the Methodist's meet. Dad said something about another church there in Ingleside? They go to visit Aunt Catherine Weld between the Methodist Meeting and the evening prayer meeting.

Monday Henry fixes the harness and harnesses the horses to go the George Pulver's to visit... they don't go until Tuesday, so I'm thinking it was a process of making sure the harness was in good shape for a longer than usual trip? Eber Weld and wife stop by. Eber goes on the Bloods and returns. His wife stays to visit, and they all visit into the evening on his return. The children have colds.

Tuesday, Sarah and Henry go to visit the Pulver family (George and Belle) -- about 2 hours away by the "new road" - a much shorter route Henry notes. They stay overnight, and return home the next day a bit after noon. The kids still have bad colds.... note there are "kids" ranging in age from 3 to 22, so they aren't being irresponsible in leaving overnight. Omar is back from Mansfield, PA. Everyone there is well, and Uncle Robert (Henry's older brother) got baptized on Sunday. (Note: The family's Christian faith would have made this baptism -fairly late in life - a pretty big deal... maybe Omar went to Mansfield specifically for the baptism?)

Note that Mansfield is about 75 miles away - quite a trip by horse! One reference suggests about 25 miles per day as an average distance traveled by horseback? Another suggests 15-25 miles per day. Omar must have pushed it since he was in church in Mansfield area on Sunday morning and got home Tuesday night. I wonder who he stayed with along the way - Sunday and Monday nights?? Definitely no Motel 6 along the way, though there might have been small Inns or boarding houses, or taverns with rooms to let and a place to stable the horse? Maybe he just slept under a tree?

January 27 through 30, 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. NEW --- I've added a map link that will help you see where things are in the neighborhood where this story takes place. Click on the Map link to the right of the title of each page. Zoom out to see where Naples is located in New York State. Zoom in to see Ingleside and exactly where the Grange Hall, and the Church were. I'll add pictures and more locations as I can.

On Wednesday Henry finishes up some steps in preserving the meat prepared last week, including "pickling". Pickling is not a vinegar process like we do with cucumbers, but involves, salt, sugar, salt petre, and water to cover the meat. Click here for a civil war era recipe that is probably similar to what Henry would have done.

Henry also cuts a board for a wagon seat. This may have involved cutting a board from a section of log? I'm pretty sure they didn't just buy lumber the way we do now. Waddamus came to visit at night. No idea who this is? Not sure if this is a first name or a last name? Henry usually uses full names or at least initials. Henry still has a lame shoulder - several days now.

Thursday, Sarah is still working on Jen's dress. With all the day to day activity of feeding and caring for 13 people with no "modern conveniences", there probably isn't a lot of extra time in the day for projects like this? Henry is working on the seat still - for the lumber wagon. Omar harnesses up the horses to go to prayer meeting (Thursday nights), but they don't go because of heavy rain. Grange meetings are Saturday night.

Friday the weather cools off again, but there isn't much snow for using the sleigh. Sarah finishes Jen's dress!

Saturday they draw manure.... a process of hauling manure from the cows, horses, and pigs out to the fields and spreading it around. They go to Christian Fellowship Meeting in the afternoon, and draw a load of firewood to the woodhouse at night. Cutting, gathering and storing firewood is a big winter time activity. There aren't crops to tend to, and the trees will dry much better when cut in the winter when they aren't growing, and there is a much lower moisture content.

January 23 through 26, 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. NEW --- I've added a map link that will help you see where things are in the neighborhood where this story takes place. Zoom out to see where Naples is located in New York State. Zoom in to see Ingleside and exactly where the Grange Hall, and the Church were. I'll add pictures and more locations as I can. Click on the Map link to the right of the title of each page. Feedback or questions appreciated!

Saturday Aunt Jayne (different spelling) goes home... she has visited several days, helping with dress making. I'm not sure who Aunt Jayne is. Henry has a sister with a middle initial of J. but she only lived to the age of 3. Sarah has no sisters by that name.

Henry mentions Omar sleeping in till 11AM. On another occasion he mentions Omar feeling "moderate" because of being out late. I'm not sure Henry totally approves of Omar's behavior??

On Sunday they go to church, which seems to include the funeral service for a George Polmateer. I'm thinking maybe they combined things because of the difficulty of travel?

On Monday Henry and Omar go to Bloods to see about selling potatoes. Bloods (present day Atlanta / North Cohocton) continued to be a major center of potato growing for many years. I can't remember the name of the machine, but a major innovation in potato sorting by mechanical means was invented there. In 1917, 30 years later, a promotional pamphlet for the area states that Stuben County is the second largest potato growing county in the whole country. They don't sell any potatos because of a lack of "carrs". Possible a misspelling referring to railroad cars? Henry makes a "bottom to sleigh". Horse drawn sleighs were the major form of local transportation in the winter. Henry has a lame shoulder for a second day. Son Cad has to be punished - no mention of what for. A note at the end of the day's entry referring to 34 cts. worth - this amount is not listed in the ledger at the end of the diary.

Tuesday Henry and Sarah go with William Blodgett and wife to visit the Charles Couleys.... I'm struck by how much visiting goes on at a time when that wasn't just a matter of hopping in the car! They go by "long sleigh", and encounter quite a bit of drifting snow. It must have been quite a gathering, because 4 other couples are there, along with a Mrs. Smith, and Mrs. Elder Lawton and her two daughters. That's a total of at least 18, not including any children of the Couleys?

January 19 through 22, 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.

Temperatures begin to appear next to the dates printed in the diary. (actually I just noticed a couple of earlier dates that have temperature entries)

On Wednesday the 20th, Jen gets a dress cut --- is this another dress, or is Henry repeating information from Saturday - the 16th ---- or is she picking up the dress? Sarah gets a hat - $2.00. Not inexpensive! Omar gets grist - cow feed - from Lyons Mill --- a second mill - previously they went to Red Mill. Dad suggests that Lyon's Mill may have been on the Blodgett place - just up the hill a bit from their place?

Note at end of the entry for the 19th --- "Wednesday's happenings" ... matching note at end of the entry for the 20th indicates that the information was reversed. I can't figure out why Henry writes "Mother Goose" after "Wednesday's happenings" Anyone out there got any theories? "Wednesday's happenings" sounds like it could be a Mother Goose line, but I can't find anything on Google.

On Tuesday, Hattie (Henry's daughter) and little Florence are there visiting. Florence is Henry and Sarah's granddaughter. Also visiting is Mrs. S.H. Ingraham - relative of Hattie and Harmon - can't find any info on exact relationship. Frank Marsh and wife are there too - quite a party for a Tuesday. Omar takes Nora Lawton riding till 10PM ;-)

On Thursday Sarah makes her dress, with help from Aunt Jane (not sure who this is) who came home with them from Naples on Wednesday. Aunt Jane makes button holes. This is confirmation that Miss Arnold measures and cuts fabric, and the actual sewing is completed at home. Omar and Jen shovel the road --- no plowing service I guess!

Dress making and button hole making continue on Friday. They go to a Grange fundraiser. Omar and Jen go to something at high point. Can anybody figure out that word? Looks like "surprise" to me, but that doesn't make much sense?? There is a High Point Hill, and a High Point Cliff listed as 2 of 31 Mountain Peaks and Summits in Ontario County, NY. Location Center: 42.6459°N 77.4447°W Elevation at center: 2,159 feet (658 meters) 1.8 miles from Naples, so it is in the neighborhood! Google maps puts High Point northwest of Naples.... the Olney's live about the same distance south of Naples. That puts High Point closer than Bloods (Atlanta) and they have made that trip several times already this year! Now ..... what is that word "s ----- at high point" ???????

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!

Click on the picture to enlarge for easier reading of original. Feel free to contact me with corrections, additional information, or comments.