Wistful Wednesday : 1916 Diary

I am transcribing the 1916 Farm Diaries that were left behind by Far Guy’s Paternal Grandparents.

Most days Grandpa writes, his penmanship is horrible, thanks to a magnifying glass I am getting the main thoughts.  The days Grandma writes it is much easier to decipher.

There are 13 years of diaries.  We can all say uffda together now…one month at a time!

So far we learned exactly when they moved from the farm south of Park Rapids where Marvin (Far Guy’s Dad) was born.  We knew they moved in 1916.

I would have never guessed they moved in February.

16 Wednesday Moved over to S.R.R. at Japs for dinner and night. (Jasper was married to Minnie Grandma’s sister and they called him Jap.) We still haven’t figured out what S.R.R. stands for, we think it is  Shell River..Road??

17 Thursday Fixed up around the place. Up to Japs for meals. (They must have lived close by…I always thought they lived in Iowa)

18 Friday Stayed at Japs, brought Tracie and Marvin down our first night here.

19 Saturday unpacked things and straightened around got some wood.

I wish there was a photo of what the farm house looked like when they moved.  There is one photo taken in 1917.

 

This is most likely Tracie (Grandma) and Jim (Grandpa) and that is Marvin (Far Guy’s Dad) right in front of Grandma along with a faithful dog.

In June of 1916, there was frost June 5th and the corn had to be replanted on June 15th.

During the year Martha Jane (Grandpa’s Mother) visited a few times, she must have come from Iowa on the train.  Grandpa’s brother Bryan stays at the farm sometimes and is in Park Rapids other times, I get the impression he worked as a farm hand.

It is wonderful for us to have the opportunity to have a glimpse into farm life 98 years ago.

Wistful Wednesday : 1916

This is one of the oldest photos I have of Far Guy's Dad, it was taken in 1916, when he was two years old. It is a lovely photo with his Mother, Theresa or Grandma H. I wonder sometimes how life was for her back then, she was twenty-one years old in this photo.

She told me once, "First babies can come at anytime, it is only the rest of them that take nine months." Well I should have just asked what she really meant.. it was not until much later that I realized that indeed Far Guy's Dad was born 8 months and thirteen days after she was married. I wonder if she had been the brunt of speculation, you know the ones.. the old women counting on their fingers, ticking the months off one by one and shaking their heads. Tisk..Tisk..did they or didn't they..babies were the indisputable proof that perhaps they did..but any baby can be two weeks early.

Back in 1916, a lady by the name of Emma Goldman was arrested for lecturing on birth control, it was not until later in that same year that Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinic in Brooklyn, NY. Birth control must have been a very controversial subject back then, and I bet you a dime to a doughnut that men had the most opinions.:)