Following is the set of footnotes associated with research of the transcription of the October 1857 diary entries by Lorette Shepard & John Hamilton. These footnotes are also interspersed and embedded within the transcription.
- Mr. Marshall ♢ Delora Marsh (born 1845) was a daughter of Joel (1800-abt 1865) and Louisa (1814-1886) Marsh. They lived on Francis Road, near John Hamilton's parents.
- Mr. Weed ♢ Joseph Weed (1783-1862) Joseph and Mary Clough of New Hampshire, lived on a farm next to Daniel Putnam near Lorette’s parents. They had children: Mary, Joana, Harvey and Sarah.
- Nancy Denton ♢ Nancy Stewart Denton (1832-1857) Nancy was the only daughter of David Stewart (1790-1832) and Elizabeth Unknown Stewart Powers (1796-1881) of Bethany. In David’s Will he stated that his youngest child will probably be born after his death; Nancy was born a month after he died. Her parents are buried in Maple Lawn Cemetery, Bethany Center.
- Mariah ♢ Lorette and Helen Shepard Showerman were visiting their cousin Maria Shepard Leonard, daughter of James Shepard. Maria’s husband Ira Leonard was an attorney who was going to move to Wisconsin.
- Mary Knowlton ♢ Mary A. Knowlton was the eleven-year-old daughter of David and Harriet Hamilton Knowlton.
- John Moore ♢ This was John Moore Jr., whose father had just died in September; his mother Clarissa died in 1850. They are both buried in Old Batavia Cemetery. John Jr., 33, and his wife Emily Calkins (sister of Sylvester “Vet” Calkins) had three children by in 1857: Agnes, George, and Ida.
- Miss Houghton ♢ Annette M Houghton (1830-1865) was a daughter of Horace and Marcia Trask Houghton of Alexander.
- every bank ♢ This was called the panic of 1857. It started with an embezzlement that caused a failure in the New York City branch of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company which forced them to default on five million dollars in loans. The resulting public loss of confidence combined with other worldwide calamities put the country in a financial crisis causing nearly every bank in the country to close their doors. It took several years for the financial system to fully recover.
- suspended ♢ Lorette's uncle Daniel Powers who owned the Powers Bank in Rochester, was said to have "held steady and made it through" the tough times caused by the financial panic of 1857.
- Phebe & Maria ♢ Oldest children of James and Amanda Shepard, Phebe Mae (1829-1900) and Mrs. Maria Shepard Leonard (1831-1921).
- Dr. Northrup’s daughter ♢ Dr. Charles A. Northrup and his wife Julia A. Gibbs had a daughter Julia Mary who was about 15.
- earthquake ♢ It was reported in the Republican Advocate: "The shock of an earthquake which is spoken of in the Buffalo papers, and which was severe enough to crack walls and plastering in that city, was also sensibly felt in this locality, several persons in this village having noticed it. It was also felt along the south shore of the lake, and in Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties."
- Mr. Wales ♢ Merinda, 24, married William Wales; she was a daughter of Tichenor Norton and Nancy Ball who lived on Francis Road, Bethany.
- Mr. Benton's ♢ George W. (born about 1818) and Annis (born about 1822) Benton lived next to Lorette's grandparents, John and Elizabeth Showerman on Francis Road in Bethany. They had two children, George A. born about 1845, and Freemont E. born about 1852. The "too hard times" John referred to was a result of The Panic of 1857; it had a major impact on everyone in the country.
- daughter ♢ Little Harriet Stewart was named after her mother Adeline’s sister, Harriet Hamilton Knowlton. They were John Hamilton’s sisters.
- Miranda Norton ♢ Merinda Norton 24, a daughter of Tichenor and Nancy Norton of Francis Road, married William Wales.
- Horace Shaw ♢ Horace Shaw (1812-1876) was a son of Daniel Shaw (1790-1823) and Catherine Wilson (1791-1862). In 1852 he married Caroline Elizabeth Gibson (1827-1893). They lived at the fork of Putnam Settlement and Francis Road, Batavia. They had one child, Alice A. Shaw born in 1852.
- George Huntington & wife ♢ George A. Huntington was a son of Gurdon Huntington 74 and Polly Powers 67. Polly was a sister of Lorette’s maternal grandfather Asahel Powers who died in 1823. George and his wife Abigail were both 26 and lived next to his parents in Sommerset, Niagara County, NY.
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