The Diaries

Maria was 25 years old when she wrote her diary in 1855. She lived in Boston with her husband, George, her brother, Charles, and her sister, Lucy. The family would suffer a sudden tragedy that year.

Sophronia was 13-14 years old and lived in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, when she wrote her diary in 1866. She brings us into her small, colonial village through the lives of her family and friends.

Lennie was 20 years old when she wrote her diary in 1870. She lived in Concord, New York. She went on to marry a prominent lawyer and move to the frontier of Nebraska.

Polly wrote her diary in Franklin, Connecticut, in 1874. She came from a line of skilled house and ship carpenters, but her husband, Alexander, was a farmer. Many of their children and grandchildren are still helping them on the farm

Addie was born in Bloomingdale, Indiana, in 1861. She wrote her diary when she was 19 years old and living with her parents. She later married Hiram Forrester and they had three children together.

Bessie was 23-24 years old when he wrote her diary in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1886. Her’s is a tragic story of heartbreak and the fate that has claimed many women through time.

Celia had her autograph book in Story City, Iowa in 1899. She was the youngest child of Norwegian immigrants who came to Iowa to farm. She later married Thomas Thompson and had four children, but she died young at the age of 35.

Nancy started her two autograph books in 1887 when she was 12 years old, and there are entries in the years after. I also have three diaries that belonged to her brother, William from 1887, 1891, and 1892. Their family operated a boat on the Champlain Canal.

Addie wrote her notebook beginning in 1892 in Millbach, Pennsylvania, when she was 14 years old. She wrote short essays about agriculture, recorded poems, documented the names of the “scholars” in her class, and doodled with crayons. She would later marry David Reed, have 2 children, and work in a shirt factory.

Nellie wrote her diary in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and included entries from 1893-1894, and 1895. She was 12-14 years old, lived with her family, and had a life full of school and friends. She would later own a gift shop and lived with her sister, Kate, until her death.

This collection spans 3 generations. Josephine and James were married and lived in Mount Morris, New York. I have James’ diaries from 1898 and 1889, and Josephine’s from 1929 and 1930. Nellie was their daughter and Earl was Nellie’s son. I have Nellie’s diaries from 1932, 1937, and 1939 and Earl’s from 1927 and 1928.

Myrtie was a school teacher in Calais, Vermont. She wrote her diary in 1899 at the age of 32, while living with her father and step-mother. She never married and taught school for her whole life.

Abby wrote her diary in 1899, with the help of her grandson, Guy, in 1903. She was 60-61 years old and Guy was 10 years old. They lived in Penobscot, Maine, and she had quite the career.

Elsie’s aunt gave her this autograph book in 1903 when she was 11 years old and living in Chicago, Illinois. She later married and had two children.

Phebe wrote her diary in Oxford, New York, in 1903 when she was 66 years old. It was a gift from her daughter-in-law, Carrie, for Christmas. Phebe was descended from the Yale family that founded Yale University.

Olive wrote her diary in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from 1913-1917 beginning when she was 18 years old. She would later go on to be the Director of Medical Publications at a Publishing company and the president of the Minnesota chapter of an international women’s organization.

Matie was a student in 1916-1917 when she wrote her diary in Cleveland, Ohio. She would later go on to be a stenographer before marrying Floyd Hamman and raising their son, Rowland.

Annie was a nurse in 1918. She later married a doctor and had a son.

Gratia wrote her diaries in 1917 and 1918; she was an unmarried school teacher and lived with her cousin, Mary’s, family. Mary’s husband, Harold, was the youngest child of Electa and the brother of Gracie and May Belle. May Belle’s diary is from 1871, Gracie’s is from 1876, and Electa’s is from 1917.

Maude wrote “Bentonville, Arkansas” under her name in the front cover, but she doesn’t actually spend much time at home. During the year of 1923, she is traveling as a performer.

Kathleen was 17 years old in 1927 and lived in Saginaw, Michigan. She was in high school and became a bookkeeper.

Dorothy wrote her diary when she was 21-22 years old in 1928. She lived in Stoney Creek, Indiana, later married Jack Carpenter and was a secretary in a law office for many years.

Dorothy Mae started her diary in 1929 in Indianapolis, Indiana, when she was 22 years old. In April of that year, she married George Eisenhut and they went on to have children together.

Virginia began her diary in 1932 at 16 in Strawberry Plains, Tennessee, but she used it as a place to record memories rather than as a record of her daily life. She continued to do this for a few years after 1932 as well. Virginia later married Guy Turbyville and they had three daughters.

Minnie lived in Decorah, Iowa and was a dedicated Diary Writer. I have six diaries spanning the years 1934-1947, the year of her death. She lived in Decorah, Iowa with her sister Ida in her dress shop.

Annabelle lived in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and was 17 years old when she started her diary in 1936. I also have a diary of hers from 1943. She served in the Navy during WWII as a Chief Storekeeper, along with her future husband, Robert Wegele.

Harriet wrote in her 5-year diary between 1937-1941 in Compton, California. She was 45 years old, was an English teacher, and had two daughters. Her husband was a police officer and had been killed in the line of duty in 1929.

Leona Thurber wrote her diary in 1939 and 1940, and also made additional entries in the years that followed. She lived in Los Angeles, California, and lived the LA lifestyle.

Amy was from Harper, Kansas and kept these two diaries during her trips West to visit family. One is from her trip to Eugene, Oregon in the summer of 1939 and the other is from her trip to Payette, Idaho in the summer of 1947.

I have two of Alyce’s diaries and each of them span multiple years- between 1939-1943 and 1954-1955. She chronicles her marriage to Don Dean and his going to war during this time. He returned and they had two children together.

Marion was 24 years old and a nurse in Los Angeles when she wrote her diary in 1941. She details the joy and stress that she felt in her job and the heartbreak she felt seeing her beau, George, off to fight in WWII. They later married after the war and had two children.

Muriel was 17 years old when she started her 5-year diary in 1941 in Brooklyn, New York. The diary tells the story of how she met and fell in love with her future husband, Graham “Gray” Slodden, before he left for WWII. They were married for 65 years.

Verna Jean Arronson began her 5-year diary in 1943 in Portland, Oregon. She was 17 and a student then, but we get to watch her meet Charles Myers and become engaged over the time of the diary. They would be married for 67 years.

Alma wrote her 5-year diary in Leetes Island, Guilford, Connecticut beginning in 1943. She was 41 years old, a stenographer, and was a second generation immigrant from Norway.

This is a collection of letters that were mostly written by Clarajane (1921-2007) to her future husband, Frank, while they both served in WWII. There are also letters from Frank to Clarajane in 1968, and letters from their daughter, Francie, in 1974.

Helen began her diaries when she was 40 years old in 1946, living in Newport, New York. I have a collection of her diaries- 15 of them with some years missing- that span 30 years of her life. She was a nurse for many years.

Pearl and George were married in 1948 and kept various letters from their life together, including telegrams from their wedding day.

Mary wrote her diary in 1948 in Dallas, Texas, when she was 70 years old. She and her two sisters bought a home there together after the three of them found themselves otherwise alone.

Helen wrote her diary in 1950 to celebrate her retirement at the age of 75. It chronicles her life and career. She lived in Xenia, Ohio, never married, and cherished her career in banking and business.

Dolores was my grandmother. My mother gave me the 4 diaries of hers spanning the years of 1980 to soon after 1991. She lived in Evanston, Illinois and died of Alzheimer’s disease in 2000.