Feb 1 – Went over to burg got ceiling of John Allen 160 feet $1.40. Laid floor in afternoon. Ella Chadwick married to night.[25] Very nice day.
Feb 2 – Ethan and Lizzy Brown[26] went to Kalamazoo. I finished laying the floor in Kitchen.
Feb 3 – Hung Kitchen door. Not very well. Ethan putting on ceiling. Henry Webster got the cutter to go to the Dance.
Feb 4 – Worked in Kitchen some not much. Not very well.
Feb 5 – Not very well. At home. Sarah went went over to Forbush Blakes.
Feb 6 – Not much work to day. Ethan putting on ceiling. I put the last tutch on floor. Not well any way.
Feb 7 – Lois came over helped Hannah. Cold bluster, snowed and blowed like fun at night.
Feb 8 – Cold blustring day. Took 4 bushels wheat to mill. Bot paint and oil. Jim and Charley Griffith chopping for H. D. Streator.[27]
Feb 9 – 15, cold blustring. Went over to burg bot paper. Went down to Katharines took her dress down. Cold, mercury 15 below zero 9 oclock in Evening.
Feb 10 – 3 below. Went over after Lois in morning. Bot oil cloth.
Feb 11 – 6 below. Went over to Burg in morning after Lois. Bot tamper for stove in middle room. Changed the stove[?]. Put the carpets down. Ethan finished painting.
Feb 12 – 4 below. At home. Not very well. Sarah went over to Blake. Jesse Earl[28] came down here made a short visit. Nice day. Woods folks no come down.
Feb 13 – At home. Not very well. Chored round some.
Feb 14 – Went over to burg. Got letter from Nell Gillett.[29]
Feb 15 – D. and Lou[30] came home to day. Not very cold.
Feb 16 – D and Lou went to Wm Ralphs.[31] D and Lou here. Jim went up to Augusta after oats. I bot 5 bushels $1.90¢. I mended chair and small table for Mrs Brown. Filed saw for C. Town.
Feb 17 – Lou and D. here. Not much work to day. Cleared out shop.
Feb 18 – Ethan and Jim went to Kalamazoo to sign papers for nut lock.[32] Ethan stayed Jim came home. D and Lou went over to Burg.
Feb 19 – Rained some. D. and Lou here all day. Em and Cora[33] came down. Rained quite hard.
Feb 20 – D. and Lou went home on 11.55 run. Some what blustrous.
Feb 21 – Went over to Burg at noon. No mail from Walter and Nell. They came on Nine Oclock Accommodation Evening. Theodore and Allice[34] here in afternoon and Evening.
Feb 22 – Went over to Burg. No mail from Walter and Nell.[35] They came on 9 oclock train in Evening.
Feb 23 – Ethan Jim went after Katharine. She came stayed all night. Nice day.
Feb 24 – Lee[36] came up after Katharine in afternoon. Ethan went over got Lois and Ina. They stayed all night. Rainy night.
Feb 25 – Ethan took Lois and Ina home in morning. Rained and snowed and Blowed, some Blustrous day. Ethan, Jim, Hannah, Walter and Nell went over to Lois. Stayed all day.
Feb 26 – At home. Walter and Nell here. Cold blustring day.
Feb 27 – Ethan, Hannah, Jim, Walter and Nell went to Kalamazoo. Cold blustring day. They had Cap Rowlands team.
Feb 28 – Ethan stayed all night. Hannah went down to Mr Randals. Cull Towns Boy Born this morning.[37]
Feb 29 – Took Hannah over to Burg. Bot half Bushel Potatoes 55 cts. Rained in night.
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[25] Michigan marriage records show that Ella Chadwick married Adrian Annes on February 1, 1888 in Galesburg, Michigan. Sadly, she passed away a little over a year later on March 15, 1889 at the age of 31
[26] Will Brown’s wife, Elizabeth (Ogden) Brown
[27] Neighbor, Henry “Harry” D. Streator
[28] Neighbor and “shirttail relative”
[29] Nellie (Tomlinson) Gillett. Nell was the granddaughter of Luke’s sister, Martha “Patty” (Keith) Sprague
[30] His son-in-law and daughter, Daniel “D” & Louese (Keith) Harris
[31] Neighbor and uncle of D Harris
[32] One of Ethan’s inventions
[33] Most likely Emaline (Stone) Ralph (D’s aunt; wife of William Ralph) and Cora Belle Harris (D’s sister)
[34] Neighbors and “shirttail relatives,” Theodore & Alice (Vandercook) Earl
[35] Walter Gillett, Nell’s husband (see footnote to February 14th entry)
[36] Ansel “Lee” Milham, the son of Martin & Lucy (Lee) Milham
[37] Harold Towne, the son of Cullen & Sarah Antoinette “Nettie” (Adams) Towne. Cullen was the brother of Charley and Fanny Towne
Letters & Diary Entries From the 1860s through the 1890s 