Transcription

Lorette Shepard & John Hamilton writings

July 1857

Following is a verbatim transcription of the diaries penned by Lorette Shepard & John Hamilton about life in rural Genesee County, New York. People, places & events transcribed have been thoroughly researched unraveling family relationships & yielding rich insights. Research results are conveniently interspersed within the transcription & published in a footnote form.


Lorette Shepard and John Hamilton's 1857 DiariesImage Credit: Daniel J. Shepard

 

7/1/1857 Wednesday. It rained to day. John & I watched with Philinda last night. Aaron Webster & Emily Bryan also. I attended the funeral.

JCH: Sat up with Philinda Putnam last night. She was buried to day. I was plowing to day when it did not rain. I have a hard job of it.

7/2/1857 Thursday. It did not rain much to day. Uncle Marvin Shepard here. Malvina went home with him. He paid us 22 dollars for her board & music. We did not like to have her go. I visited Maria Gardner had a good visit. Frank Hamilton called.

JCH: It did not rain but a little to day. I was plowing all day. Frank Hamilton called here & we planned a visit to Mr. Preston, Avon.

7/3/1857 Friday. John & Helen, Eliza & Frank went out to Avon to Mr. Prestons on a visit. We arrived there about noon. Pheba, Maria Leonard & Helen Showerman visited Ma.

JCH: Started this morning for Avon with Frank, Helen, Eliza & Lorette. We arrived there about noon. Frank & I went over with Mr. Preston to see some cattle, there were very nice.

7/4/1857 Saturday. We all went down to Avon Springs. I could not like the water. We started for home about 2 oclock. We got home about 8 we had a good time.

JCH: We all went down to Avon Springs this morning. Mr. Preston & I went to see more cattle. They were nice. A bull & cow valued at over one thousand dollars. Came home. I liked the Avon water very much. We had a good visit. Crops very poor.

 

Avon Springs Ad New York

Ad image for Avon Springs located in Avon, Livingston County, New York
Image Credit: Antique Bottle & Glass Collector Magazine, 2005; also Les Buel, East

 

7/5/1857 Sunday. Pa & Ma went up south to meeting. John & I went up to uncle James to see Ira Leonard & Maria. They have got quite a pretty baby.

JCH: Father & mother Shepard went up sought to meeting. Lorette & I went up to James Shepard just at night to see Mr. Leonard & wife. I went up to fathers & got a wool box.

7/6/1857 Monday. We sheared sheep to day. Frank Hamilton here helping. Rained this afternoon.

JCH: Sheared sheep today 58 of them. Frank Hamilton here plowing. A shower in the afternoon. Henry Showerman helped me sheer sheep.

7/7/1857 Tuesday. Warm & pleasant. The girls came & took their lessons. Pa & John went to the village with the wool, they got 43 ½ cts per pound for it. Frank Hamilton here hoeing.

JCH: Frank Hamilton plowing our potatoes & hoeing. Went down to Batavia & sold our wool. Averaged 4 pounds and a quarter per head, at forty three cents & a half. Warm and pleasant. Hoeing in the afternoon.

7/8/1857 Wednesday. Frank & James Hamilton & Wm Benedict here hoeing for John. Ma visited to James Quances. I commenced making me a Darwin dress. Miss Stevens & her sister called here.

JCH: Frank & James Hamilton & Wm Benedict were here at work hoeing corn & potatoes. Warm & pleasant.

7/9/1857 Thursday. Warm day. Elizebeth fitted a dress for me today. I paid her 25cents. John is plowing.

JCH: Thermometer 100 in the shade. Plowing to day in the back lot. A shower in the afternoon. Went down to the black smith shop & had a shoe set & the drag fixed.

7/10/1857 Friday. Very warm, The girls here again to day. Elizebeth helped me a while afternoon.

JCH: Plowing in the back lot, warm & sultry.

7/11/1857 Saturday. A very warm day. Pa, Ma, John & I went up to Dennis Chaddocks visiting. Henry & Helen came there too. We had a good visit.

JCH: Thermometer 95, shade. Went up to Ira Shepard & Dennis Chaddocks to buy some sheep, did not get any. Sheep are pretty high. They had a tremendous rain in Attica yesterday.

7/12/1857 Sunday. Another very warm day. John & I went up south to church to day. John & I took a look in the wheat there are a good many weevil in it.

JCH: Went up south to meeting to day. A good many out. Elder Madden preached.

7/13/1857 Monday. Nothing of importance. Mr. Phelps called.

JCH: I was plowing when it was not to hot. O. Putnam called here & we settled up with him.

7/14/1857 Tuesday. Very warm. The girls had their lesson to day. We had some green peas for dinner, they came from uncle James. Mr Shepard called the melodeon man. I called to Peters, John went to Mr. Levings auction.

JCH: Commenced dragging to day in the back lot. Went over with Osgood Putnam to an auction at Mr. Levings. They had a mower there which they tried. Very warm.

7/15/1857 Wednesday. Very warm in the forenoon. Afternoon we had a very heavy thunder shower. I never heard such heavy thunder in my life. Aunt Roxanny Showerman & Sarah Quance were here.

JCH: Dragging most all day. The hardest thunder storm I ever witnessed to night. The lightning struck a good many times. Will Stewart was shocked at home.

7/16/1857 Thursday. Another thunder shower but not as hard as yesterday. John & I went to the village just night. I settled up at Holdens, it was not as much as I expected. The lightning started a number of fires in the village.

JCH: We drew gravel to fix the bridge in front of the barn. It rained most all the afternoon. Lorette & I went down to the village just at night. Settled up at Mr. Holdens.

7/17/1857 Friday. Very warm. We commenced making cheese. Ma went up to her Mothers. Heard that Lorinda is better. The girls had their lessons to day. I called to Peters.

JCH: Finished hauling gravel & then went to dragging. Father & mother Shepard went up to Mr. Showermans this afternoon. Heard that father was quite unwell. Cool & pleasant.

7/18/1857 Saturday. Very warm. We put a cheese in the press for the first one. I made a neck handkerchief for John. Aunt Sarah Shepard visited Ma. Helen Showerman called.

 

Sally Ann Bartlett birth family Bible

The birth of Sally Ann Bartlett in Monroe County, New York, Tuesday 2nd March 1818 is recorded in the family Bible
Image Credit: LJ Shepard Research

 

JCH: Was plowing most all day. Went down to the black smith shop & had a shoe set on the black horse. Settled up with Mr. Charles & paid the blacksmith 5 dollars.

7/19/1857 Sunday. The coolest day we have had this week. John & I went up to see his father, he was quite sick yesterday. The Dr. called , an overflow of the gall, the children were all there (I was rather suspicious of Adaline).

JCH: Went up to see father. He was very sick yesterday. The doctor said that his gall over flowed. All of our folks were all at home.

7/20/1857 Monday. Pa commenced helping John with haying. Ma & I picked our wool to day.

JCH: Commenced mowing this morning. Bought a piece of grass of J. Quance for three dollars and a half. It looks rainy tonight.

7/22/1857 Wednesday We had a shower after noon. Ma & I visited to Mr. Bentons, first rate visit. Mrs. Marsh also there.

JCH: We drew in the hay on Israel Quances. Mowing the rest of the day. It rained again to day. It seems to rain most all the time.

7/23/1857 Thursday. Ma & I Visited to Warren Putnams. I gave Emaline her lesson.

JCH: Father Shepard & Henry Showerman went up to Wyoming to see a flock of sheep. They did not buy them & came home in the rain. I mowed one swath & cut some thistles. A very heavy shower.

7/24/1857 Rained some. Pa & John bought some sheep of Mr. Lawrence, 28 I believe. John & Pa went to the village at night.

JCH: Father Shepard & I went up to Sumner Lawrences to see some sheep. We bought 28 at ten shillings per head.

7/25/1857 Saturday. Pleasant. Mr. & Mrs. Read here to dinner.

JCH: Pleasant. Mr & Mrs Reed here to dinner.

7/26/1857 Sunday. John & I attended to Quarterly meeting at stone school house. Harriet, Laura Shepard & Miss Burt here all night.

JCH: Went down to a quarterly meeting at the stone school house. Elder Emmons preached, also at five oclock.

7/27/1857 Monday. Ma & I visited to Mr. Marshes, I gave Delora a lesson. We got some cherries. Grandmother Showerman & Olive there. Pa & John dragging.

JCH: I was mowing most all day. Father Shepard went up to help Asahel Shepard moved his barn.

7/28/1857 Tuesday. The girls all here but Amelia.

JCH: I drew in a couple of jags of hay & cocked up some in the forenoon. It rained to day again. Father Shepard at work for Asahel. I mowed some in the orchard.

7/29/1857 Wednesday. Ma & I went up to Grandma Showermans to get some berries. Elizebeth went up there. I called to father Hamilton. He is getting better.

JCH: Father Shepard helped me to day haying. Finished up on ours until after harvest. Lorette went up to John Showermans to get rose berries.

7/30/1857 Thursday. I visited to Mr. Green’s, Clair Calkins went with me, very good visit. Heard that Nancy Denton is no better. Got the consumption.

JCH: Commenced cutting wheat this morning. Cut part of the the day & gave it up, it was so green. Wheat a hard crop. Went up to James Shepards to work after supper.

7/31/1857 Friday.

JCH: Father Shepard & I went to James Shepard to work harvesting. They nearly finished to day. They cut it with a reaper. Their wheat very rudy & not much of it.

 

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1857 Diary Summary

John 25 and Lorette 21 settle into their second year of marriage. They live with her parents who are remodeling their house on Shepard Road, Batavia, NY. Baby brother, Charles is 3 and Lorette helps with his care. Daily they see their relatives and friends marry and have children. Lorette gives music lessons to neighbors and attends singing school and weekly sees her best friend and half-aunt Elizabeth Showerman Quance who lives around the corner on East Road with her husband Israel. John attends a debate club, reads a book on spiritualism, moves his barn, goes fishing, raises sheep, makes maple syrup, and plays baseball. Life is filled with dinners, picnics, attending various churches, deaths and marriages, and a lot of visiting.

1857 Surnames Mentioned

Andrews, Ashley, Benedict, Benton, Bostwick, Brainard, Brown, Bryan, Buell, Burt, Calkins, Chaddock, Charles, Cole, Cornwell, Cortez, Covell/Coville, Cummings, Davis, Denton, Dorman, Emmons, Farnham, Fillmore, Fister, Green, Hamilton, Hart, Hathaway, Hawley, Holden, Holter/Holton, Houghton, Huggins, Huntington, Jackman, Johnson, Judd, Judson, Keaton, Knowlton, Lamkin, Lane, Lathrop, Lawrence, Leonard, Levings, Lincoln, Loomis, Lord, Lovelace, Lyman, Lyons, Madden, Marsh, Marshall, McMillen, Moore, Newton, Northrup, Norton, Nott, Olin, Parmer, Patterson, Perry, Phelps, Plato, Powers, Putnam, Quance, Read, Reamer, Rogers, Rolland, Sale, Shaw, Shepard, Showerman, Skinner, Smith, Sprague, Stevens, Stewart, Strong, Sweetland, Thayer, Thompson, Town, Waite, Walker, Wales, Ware, Watts, Webster, Weed, West, Wilkenson, Woodward, Wortendyke

Life as Lorette

Life as Lorette presents the journey from diary discovery to revealing pioneers of Genesee County, New York.

World Events of 1857

  • An earthquake hit Tokyo and about 107,000 died
  • Frederick Laggenheim took the first photo of a solar eclipse
  • H. Sichel & Sohne, the producers of the popular Blue Nun white wine, was founded in Germany
  • The SS Central America sinks to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, cargo includes 43 bars of gold

National Events of 1857

  • In Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court rules that a slave is not a citizen
  • James Gibbs of Virginia patented a chain-stitch single-thread sewing machine
  • The California gold rush town of Columbia burned down in a fire that was blamed on a Chinese cook; the miners soon evicted all Chinese from the town
  • Mormon leader Brigham Young called out the Nauvoo Legion to fight the U.S. Troops if they enter Utah Territory
  • Lithographers Nathaniel Currier and Charles Ives become partners
  • Count Agoston Haraszthy founded the Buena Vista Winery in Sonoma, California
  • Paul Broca discovered that particular regions of the brain are specialized for particular functions
  • The first US coin to be called a nickel was the copper and nickel one-cent piece

New York State Events in 1857

  • The first passenger elevator is installed in a New York City store
  • Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead and architect Calvert Vaux won the competition to develop New York City's Central Park
  • New York City's Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company branch fails, precipitating a financial panic; 4,932 U. S. firms fail
  • John Alsop King takes office as the first Republican governor
  • The American Chess Association organized. The first major US chess tournament was held in NYC

Local Events in 1857

  • Treaty with the Seneca Tonawanda Band was signed restoring about 8,000 acres of land to the Seneca Nation
  • The Genesee River floods carrying away buildings on Rochester's Main Street Bridge
  • Susan B. Anthony and William Lloyd Garrison speak at an Abolition meeting in Corinthian Hall, Rochester
  • Le Roy's Ingham Collegiate Institute is chartered as Ingham University
  • Belva Lockwood graduates from Genesee Wesleyan Seminary in Lima, NY; she later runs for U.S. President in 1884 and 1888
  • Polly Hoag Frisch's second husband, Otto Frisch, deserts her in the same year that two more of her children die in the Town of Alabama. Relatives, neighbors, and friends are suspicious
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