The Farm Diaries begin in 1916 and they stretch through the years ending in 1929. The diaries belong to cousin Bonnie and she says I can keep them...but I really want to finish the project and return them to her. It is a relief when Grandma writes as her handwriting is much better than Grandpas. However I am getting pretty good at deciphering his hand.
I started a special blog for all this family information. It has been a work in progress since 2012. Yes I have been at it for eight years! Pictures and newspaper articles that Grandma saved were scanned and the diaries transcribed one entry at a time.
What I found interesting about the month of January 1926 is that all three boys got the mumps. Marvin (Far Guys Dad age 12) on January 2, Jimmie (age 4) on January 20 and Ronald (age 7) on January 22. (Archie was not even a twinkle in his Dads eye yet)
I hope that I can decipher a few more months this winter. Right now I am working on October of 1926.
Far Side
Farm Diaries: January 1926
January 1 Friday To Dads in PR for new years dinner had goose
January 2 Saturday Butchered a 325 hog cut some brush Marvin took mumps
January 3 Sunday Home sacked some spuds for Arthur got 150 per bu
January 4 Monday Cut brush Fred Bateman here after boar Glen stayed I sorted spuds in PM
January 5 Tuesday Sacked spuds for Arthur
January 6 Wednesday Cut up pork helped Chilton load wood put on a little siding on barn
January 7 Thursday Took cream hauled some wood in kitchen hauled a load of dry pole wood
January 8 Friday Hauled wood from pig pen
January 9 Saturday Cut dry wood to Osage in eve
January 10 Sunday Home Dads here sacked spuds for Arthur Geo Moyer
January 11 Monday School started I cut dry wood Thresa and Jimmie went to Sextons
January 12 Tuesday Helped wash hauled one load of dry wood brought kids home from school
January 13 Wednesday Choped wood Thresa went to see Mrs Robinson I and Jimmie hauled some pole wood
January 14 Thursday Started to PR to Farm Bureau meeting but stopped at Osage a bliz and roads blocked
January 15 Friday Cut wood in AM to PR in PM
January 16 Saturday Hauled wood chored
January 17 Sunday Sacked spuds for Arthur went to see Mr Rhodes and Smith
January 18 Monday Sacked feed and took it to Osage John sick and couldn't grind left feed. Sexton sick done his chores
January 19 Tuesday Helped Sexton with pump and chores Cleaned barn
January 20 Wednesday Jimmie took Mumps cut wood Halfsoled some shoes Chilton here after wood Took cream and eggs to Osage
January 21 Thursday To Robinsons after boar, no use took him back after noon very cold
January 22 Friday Cut Tamarack wood Very cold Ronald came down with mumps
January 23 Saturday M Rhodes died we cut wood very cold and blizardy
January 24 Sunday Home Arthur here after spuds chored cold
January 25 Monday Hauled wood in AM to Mr Rhodes funeral in PM
January 26 Tuesday Hauled in some wood and took some oats down to Robinson to get it ground Jimmie sick
January 27 Wednesday Cut wood in morn chored and took eggs to Osage and got Marvin from school bad storm
January 28 Thursday about 35 below cut wood and hauled it in took cream to stage at noon
January 29 Friday Cut and hauled wood
January 30 Saturday Cut wood in AM cleaned out barn and went to Osage in eve
January 31 Sunday Home all day about 8 in of snow fell
These look like my Grandmother's Diaries too. She'd mention sick neighbors and she never ever forgot the weather report. Love them!
ReplyDeleteI really am envious of this. I don't have anything from my ancestors.
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting how different the language was then. "Sacked spuds" caught my eye and gave me some pause to think of how it would be said today. I sure enjoyed this, though. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI too, think it is all fascinating. I can't imagine how meaningful it must be to the actual relatives.
ReplyDeleteWOW - that is wonderful. What a great gift for your family and for future generations. So interesting to see what our ancestors every day life was like. I have a treasured letter from my great aunt Patty to my grandmother about how she was able to locate some girdles during the war and was going to send them to Ohio from Seattle! I am sure your family appreciates this more than you can know.
ReplyDeleteVery nice. I like to know the day to day stuff.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing gift to be left for the children, grandchildren and all those to come!
ReplyDeleteLove, love, love reading the old diary entries. Wish my ancestors had written things down. So very interesting!
ReplyDeleteHow fascinating!!! Even with the help of Ancestry.com I can't even find any documentation on my great grandmother who I'm named after. I'm starting to think she didn't exist even though I sit in her rocking chair to knit every day.
ReplyDeleteI think this is wonderful and such a gift to future generations. I know nothing of anyone past my grandparents. My Mom's parents were gone before I was born and my Dad's father passed when I was 10. My Grandma, his mom, however, is the one who taught me to crochet and bake. She passed when I was 18 and I still miss her to this day. I would love to have anything to remember my ancestors by. You are such a blessing to your family for doing this Connie.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Betsy
It is interesting to read. Everyone survived mumps, they just did not feel very well.I caught mumps at school and them my mom caught them from me.
ReplyDeleteThose are real treasures! You are preserving your family history. :)
ReplyDeleteSo interesting to get a peek into the past!
ReplyDeleteYou’re giving future generations a precious gift by transcribing the diaries.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post! You are an amazing person to work so hard for such a long time on this. This is one of the best things that can be done for your family and future family. You've made good progress too, even though it has taken a long time. There is a lot to transcribe! You've gotten nearly ten years done with just three more years left.
ReplyDeleteDo you have this set as a private family blog where family members can read as you go? I never thought about doing something like that but I imagine it could work as a good way to share between family members where ever they live. I've been looking for a way to share old family photos as I scan them and I never thought of using a blog.
Connie you are an inspiration to me because I have so much family information that I am afraid will be lost if I don't do something with it. It is overwhelming to just think about getting it organized but I know if I don't do it no one else will. I'd like to think that some family member in the distant future would appreciate my efforts.
Thank you!
I believe anyone can read it now, if you go to my profile you can see it there it is called Tracies Treasures.
DeleteWow, thank you!
DeleteThis is an amazing project, first because the grandparents maintained the diaries and the family kept them, and finally your perseverance to transcribe and make them available to this generation and those following. What an interesting series of posts - it's easy to see how hard they worked and in difficult weather. We take so much for granted, not having to bring in wood to heat our homes, and so forth. Thanks for sharing a bit of it with us.
ReplyDeleteOld diaries are so interesting to read
ReplyDeleteQuite a project. Now that you have transcribed the diaries, I wonder if there is not a museum somewhere that would want them. Or a library in the area.
ReplyDeleteThe wood thing brings back memories. You had to keep a fire on to keep warm.
ReplyDeleteHow fortunate your family is to have these diaries. Sure wish my grandparents had thought to do likewise.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen chores used as a verb - "chored". I rather like it.
ReplyDeleteI love family histories and these diaries are awesome. What hard workers they were. So fascinating to read what was going on in bitterly cold January. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteFascinating.
ReplyDeleteAmazing!
ReplyDeleteI bet those are fascinating to read.
ReplyDeleteLove, love, love the farm diaries!
ReplyDeleteFolks sure worked back then. We have to rake and scrape to find anything about our families.
ReplyDelete