3/1/1856 Saturday. Pleasant most of the day. Pa drew a load of corn to the village. Broke his sleigh. Sewing. John visited me one year ago to night. It was very cold.
JCH: Father went to village with a load of corn. Got five shillings for it. It snowed some in the afternoon at home all day.
3/2/1856 Sunday. Cold and blustering. At home all day.
JCH: Did not attend church to day. Not very cold. Was reading part of the day.
3/3/1856 Monday. Not as cold as yesterday. Ma sick with a cold. Sewing in afternoon on my bed quilt.
JCH: It snowed and stormed quite bad all day. We thrashed and cleaned some corn. Cleaned some oats and buckwheat. Went up to the blacksmith shop and had a bolt made for the sleigh.
3/4/1856 Tuesday. Very bad day, never saw it blow much harder. Pa & John went to Batavia to town meeting. Had a time getting home. Ma & I alone & sewing.
JCH: Election day. Hurrah. Went down this morning and shoveled the roads. Went down to Batavia to the town meeting. It snowed tremendously all day. Never saw it blow much worse. Voted the American ticket. Will probably be elected. Had a time getting home.
3/5/1856 Wednesday. Cold but pleasant. Sewing all day. Tired of such cold weather.
JCH: Out shoveling roads again today. Afternoon went up to James Shepards to break the roads. A hard winter. About tired of cold weather.
3/6/1856 Thursday. Cold & blustering. John & I visited at the James Shepard's, very good visit.
JCH: At home in the forenoon. Afternoon went up to James Shepards with Lorette. Had a good visit. Snowed all day. We shall have enough snow for sleighing.
3/7/1856 Friday. Blustered some. Finished piecing my bed quilt. Mr. & Mrs. Dire here afternoon & all night.
JCH: Cleaned up wheat most of the day. About sick with a colds. Mr. Dire and wife was here all night. Cold and stormy. It seems as if it never would thaw.
3/8/1856 Saturday. Still but cold. Mr. Dire & wife went back to uncle Asahels this afternoon. I visited to Grandmother Shepards. John visited Miss Hurty’s school the last day. Heard that uncle Daniel Powers was married to Miss Hellen Craig.
JCH: Went up to Grandmother Shepards in the afternoon. The school closed in the district to day. They had some speaking did not amount to much. Clear and cold.
3/9/1856 Sunday. Pleasant but very cold at home all day. Franklin Shepard called. John went up home with him. Pa & John went up to the eve meeting.
JCH: Franklin Shepard called here and went up with him to his fathers. Mr. Leonard was there. In the evening went up to meeting. Elder Williams preached. Clear and cold wind west.
3/10/1856 Monday. Cold & blustering. Myron Putnam & Wm Johnson called. A spring month but hard winter weather.
JCH: Myron Putnam and William Johnson called here for a recipe for a horse medicine. Clear and cold.
3/11/1856 Tuesday. Stormy and blustering. Commenced piecing a woolen comforter.
JCH: Shoveled roads. Went to Mr. Showermans. Mr. Quance, Mr. Reuben West, Mr. Hurty was there and sung the song called Bobbing Around. Cold and stormy, roads full again.
3/12/1856 Wednesday. Clear & cold. Commenced a cotton comfortable.
JCH: I went up home to fathers. James Showerman went with me. Went over to the white school house to an exhibition. Very good one. Came home about one oclock.
3/13/1856 Thursday. Pleasant & some warmer. Our folks shoveling roads. Ma visited to Israels. Two cousins from the East came here at night. Amanda & Alvira Mc Call. Alvira played the melodeon, The Ladies Quick Step & the Soldiers Joy & Rosebud Quick Step.
JCH: Two cousins Mc Calls from the east here. Father and mother went over to Mr. Quances. I was out shoveling roads. Clear but a cold wind with a prospect of better weather.
3/14/1856 Friday. Pleasant. They went to Grandmother Shepard, Ma & Pa with them. We visited with them in the evening.
JCH: The Misses Mc Calls and father and mother Shepard went up to grandmother Shepards. Lorette and I went up to James Shepards in the evening. Over two dozen there. Cold yet.
3/15/1856 Saturday. Pleasant. The girls started for home. We went as far as the village with them. Bought some factory for John some shirts.
JCH: The Misses Mc Calls were here in the forenoon. They then started for Albion. Lorette and I went as far as Batavia with them. Fine girls. Cold and stormy. Bought me some shirts.
3/16/1856 Sunday. Cold. Attended the south church.
JCH: Went up to the south church. A man from Concord NH preached an Abolition sermon. Cold riding up there this morning.
3/17/1856 Monday. Pleasant. Filled my bed with straw.
JCH: Chopped wood in the forenoon. Put the corn in the stable to get the hens in the barn. Pleasant with a prospect of fine weather.
3/18/1856 Tuesday. Visited at Mr. Newtons. Very good visit.
JCH: Thawing some. Went up to Mr. Newton with Lorette and stayed in the evening. Had a good time. Mr. Frisbee and wife and Mr. T. Smith and sister Rosala. Very pleasant and warm.
3/19/1856 Wednesday. Stormy. Piecing comfortable.
JCH: Went down to Batavia with James Quance. Cloudy and cold. Quite a change since yesterday.
3/20/1856 Thursday. Pleasant. Uncle Ira Shepard was here and we went home with him. Thawed some.
JCH: Mr. Ira Shepard was here part of the day. He talked of buying Peter Showermans farm. Went up home with him and stayed all night. Pleasant.
3/21/1856 Friday. Pleasant and warm. Went to Seymour Chaddocks in the afternoon and to Uncle Dennis Chaddocks in the evening & all night. Finished my fine stockings.
JCH: Went up to Seymour Chaddocks and in the evening went up to his fathers and stayed all night. Very pleasant and warm. Upset in the snow.
3/22/1856 Saturday. Pleasant & thawed some. Came down to Charles Putnams & took dinner, Phebe Shepard came home with us. Saw Lydia Ann Shepard. She asked us to stand up with her.
JCH: Came down to Elder Putnams and stopped to dinner. Came home Lydia Ann Shepard asked us to stand up with her and Mr. Loomis. Very pleasant.
3/23/1856 Sunday. Beautiful day. Mr. Calvin Loomis & Lydia Ann were married in church by Charles Putnam. John and I stood up with her.
JCH: Lydia Ann Shepard married to day to Mr. Loomis. Lorette and I stood up with them. Married in meeting. Came back and was a bearer for an Englishman that died at Myron Putnams.
3/24/1856 Monday. Snowed & hailed unpleasant. John went up home made some preparations for sugaring. Came home at night very bad going with a team. Thawing. Lorette’s cow had a calf.
JCH: Went up to fathers to help fix his buckets. Drew them into the woods. Lorette’s cow had a calf to day. Rather unpleasant, snow and hail. Snow thawing slowly. Came home.
3/25/1856 Tuesday. Thawing some. Pa went to the village. Sewing.
JCH: At home all day. Father Shepard went to the village and bought some clover seed, two bushel for 7 dollars and a half per bus. Cold.
3/26/1856 Wednesday. Little colder to day. Pa & John went to the village. I pieced out two linings for my bed quilt.
JCH: Went down to the village with some provender for the cows. Rather cold. Heard that Leveret Richmond was dead. James Showerman was here.
3/27/1856 Thursday. Snowing some. Pa & Ma went to the village. John & I visited to uncle Asahel Shepards. Sort of a second day wedding. The relatives around here were there. Bad night blustered very hard.
JCH: At home most of the day. Father and mother Shepard went down to the village. Took down our grist to the mill. Went up to Asahel Shepards in the evening to a party. Cold and snowing.
3/28/1856 Friday. Snowed hard, blustering all day. A hard day for this time of year. Colored my bed quilt.
JCH: Winter lingers! Did nothing all day. Snowing and blustering in fact a winters day. It seems as if we never have warm weather, but only four or five days since last Christmas. Pleasant.
3/29/1856 Saturday. Very cold and blustering. Nearly as bad a day as we have had this winter. Visited to Henry’s with Calvin & Lydia Loomis. They called here this morning.
JCH: Blustering and cold. I went up to Henry Showermans. Mr. Loomis called here and Lorette went up with them and we stayed all day.
3/30/1856 Sunday. Clear & cold. At home all day. Not much prospect of warmer weather.
JCH: Clear and cold. Without much prospect of warmer weather. Did not attend church to day road hardly passable.
3/31/1856 Monday. Pleasant. Ma & I went to uncle Peter Showermans this afternoon & twisted thread for quilting.
JCH: Father Shepard traded horses with James Shepard. He got a colt, a two year colt and fifteen dollars to boot, for a black mare. Chopped some in the afternoon.
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