Following is the set of footnotes associated with research of the transcription of the May 1856 diary entries by Lorette Shepard & John Hamilton. These footnotes are also interspersed and embedded within the transcription.
- Mr Getten ♢ Henry Getten in his 30’s was a blacksmith who lived in Bethany.
- Mary Brainard ♢ Mary Brainard 17 was with Lorinda Showerman 24, who would soon be moving to Iowa.
- Mr. Bride ♢ Unfortunately, not much was known about James when he married Lorinda, other than he was born in Virginia.
- Melvin Buel ♢ Melvin 18 was a son of Cyrus and Katharine Buell and brother of Austin.
- Dr. Baker's ♢ Born in Roxbury, Delaware County, N, John graduated from Geneva Medical College and opened his first practice in Ostelic, NY. In 1848 he came to Batavia with his brother Cyrus C. Baker, also a physician. Around 1842 John married Ann Mitchell and they had four children: Cynthia, Jennie Louisa, Sarah, and John M. in 1850. Ann died in 1852 and children Sarah and John died the next year. They were all buried in Elmwood Cemetery. In 1856, Dr. Baker lived in the Village of Batavia with his remaining two children, Cynthia 13, and Jennie Louisa 11.
- Lyman Quance ♢ Lyman 38 and his wife Sarah and their four children, had moved to Michigan the past October with Morris Putnam. Morris remained there.
- Nancy Johnson ♢ Nancy Powers, Lorette’s widowed great aunt, was married to Calvin Johnson of Climax, Michigan where they lived until he died in 1852. Nancy, a sister of Lorette grandfather, Asahel Powers, was born about 1802 in Batavia, NY. Her second husband was Alexis Benjamin Philow (1807-1881) of Richland, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
- Mrs. Vorus ♢ Ann (Voorhees?) may have been a sister of Eunice Lyons (1822-1873), who was adopted by Peter and Roxanny Showerman in 1833 when they lived in Freedom, NY.
- Elder Short ♢ Seneca 47 lived on Ellicott Street Road with his second wife Maria Newton, daughter of John Newton and Phebe Wright. Seneca was a son of William and Polly Short of Massachusetts. His first wife Mary died in 1835 and was buried in Livonia, Livingston County, NY. They had one daughter, Malvina F. Short. From his second marriage, Seneca had three daughters, Mary M. born about 1840, Laura J. born about 1843, and Rosalie R. born about 1845. Seneca was a Methodist Minister.
- pulled tare ♢ Tares are weeds that look like wheat.
- Charlie ♢ Charlie Shepard, Lorette’s brother, was 9 months old.
- Milton Powers ♢ Around the corner from Lorette and John lived her uncle Charles Milton Powers and aunt Olive Amanda Showerman Powers, a half-sister of Lorette's mother. Milton was from Trenton Falls, Oneida County. They lived with Olive's parents, John and Elizabeth Showerman on Francis Road, Bethany with their three year old son Edwin A. Powers.
- Lucy Quance ♢ Lucy 27, Lorette's neighbor on East Road, married James Quance in 1849. They had one daughter, Roselle Z Quance, age 4, and lived with her mother, Mehitable Quance.
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