Nov 1 – Went to the Burg this morning after Nancys grip. She sent it to the Burg but she went to Shelbyville. She came to Kal- from Chicago Monday night. Rainy this P.M.
Nov 2 – Cold wind to day. Went to the Burg this P.M. Gathered the cabbage to night. Spit snow some. Grandpa Keiths[109] 118th birthday.
Nov 3 – Snowed most all day is snowing this evening. Got the cabbage stumps in the barn (for feed) this morning before the snow covered them. Also pulled what few turnips we had. Carried the cabbage down cellar. Had 63 heads of our own raising and 24 bought.
Nov 4 – Pleasant is melting the snow. Went to the Burg this A.M. Bought a pair of gloves to drive in 50¢. Hannah and I went to the Burg this evening. Mabel sewed here to day. Let Gertrude have 12# of pop corn.
Nov 5 – Pleasant snow has about disappeared. Mr and Mrs Blake called this P.M. We turned the stove around in the middle room to day.
Nov 6 – Pulled the red beets and one half of the sugar beets. Hannah and went Went to the Burg this A.M. to see Lois. Picked out four baskets of corn from what Will Ridler has husked to day for house use.
Nov 7 – Hannah and I went to the Burg this evening. Finished pulling the sugar beets. Took the house pump up but did not get it so it worked.
Nov 8 – Washed the sugar beets and put them down cellar 4 bushels of them. Weighed 204# grew on 448 square feet of ground. At the rate of most ten tons per acre. Will Ridler finish husking our share of the corn 123 baskets. C. Ford drew a load of wood this P.M.
Nov 9 – Worked at the well got the check valve so it held the water. Enclosed the well room.
Nov 10 – Worked at the well room and banking up the house. Helped Will Ridler get some of our corn stalks in the barn this P.M. Went to the 6.17 P.M. train after Lou and Nancy, Leone and Mildred. Rainy. Uncle Henry Crawford came here this P.M.
Nov 11 – Went to the Burg this morning after the girls baggage. Took Uncle Henry to the noon train. Lou and I went to the Burg this evening.
Nov 12 – Lois and Dell came over a little while this P.M. Dell and I went up on the hill south of school house to see how they had filled in the washout.
Nov 13 – Worked at banking up the house and fixing the cellar windows. Hannah and I went to the Burg this even’g.
Nov 14 – Rainy. Pa and Ma’s Fiftieth wedding anniversary. Dell, Lois, Charley and Clara Clark and children (Ethan, Edna and Howard), Nancy, Lou, Leone and Mildred, Cora Harris and Gertrude Ralph were here to celebrate. They had $22.50 in gold given them besides other presents. Went to the Burg three times.
Nov 15 – Took Lou and children to the 4.55 A.M. train but it went through just as we got to the station.
Nov 16 – Took Lou and children to the 4.55 A.M. train. She expects to be in Shelbyville at 8 A.M. Charley Ford drew two loads of wood this P.M. Ettie Tompkins was over this P.M. Went to the Burg this A.M.
Nov 17 – Charley Ford drew a load of wood this A.M. Rained a little this P.M. Went to the Burg this evening.
Nov 18 – Will Ridler finished drawing our corn fodder to day. Worked at the corn house trying to get the south west corner in better shape. Lois was over this P.M. Nancy went home with her. Hannah and I went to the Burg this evening. Nancy came home with us.
Nov 19 – Nancy, Hannah and I went up to Ras Townes to day. I saw the first insect in wheat I ever saw. Lois and Dell went up to Charley Fords this P.M. Lois called here a few minutes.
Nov 20 – Worked at the corn house bracing up the S.W. corner. Took Nancy to the 12.55 P.M. train. She visits in Kal- this week. Mr Burk called this A.M.
Nov 21 – Worked at the corn house to day. Hannah and I went to the Burg this evening. Lois was here all day.
Nov 22 – Gette Beckwith and Adam Cockburn were married this evening.[110] Hannah and I went to the Burg this A.M. Worked out to the corn house and barn. Ed Galusha made him a rack for his wagon here this P.M.
Nov 23 – Piled some wood C. Ford drew to day. Shelled some corn for a grist. Wrote to H. L. Keith. Colder.
Nov 24 – Cold east wind. Went to the Burg this evening. Nancy came up to Lois’es to night from Kal-. Shelled corn this morning to finish out for a grist.
Nov 25 – The Kal- Battle Creek Electric R.R. commenced plowing Battle Creek St for their track this P.M. I went to Howlandsburg to mill and from there to the forks in the road this side of Augusta then came down the Electric line. They have the rails laid almost to the culvert at the Burg. Hannah and I went to the Burg this evening brought Nancy home with us.
Nov 26 – Lois and Dell came over this P.M. Nancy and I got the papers containing account of Pa’s and Ma’s Golden Wedding ready to send away. Will send one dozen. The Electric road men worked on West Main Street plowing and digging for the track.
Nov 27 – Went to the Burg this A.M. Took Nancy and Hannah up to Edwin Flanders this P.M. Went to the Burg after I got home. Went after the girls this evening. We did not get home until after eleven P.M. Electric road men are working on Main Street. 17 years to night went to the Lights O London at Kal.[111]
Nov 28 – Commenced making over the stable door. Lois was over all day sewing for Ina. Ettie Tompkins was over this P.M. Street R.R. men laid the track to day noon on the curve around the Cory block from Main to Battle Creek streets. Went to the Burg to see the new track. The first rails laid in the Burg were laid this P.M. on curve in fron[t] of Cory Block.
Nov 29 – Took Nancy to the 12.55 train. She goes to Kal- and takes the S.S. & M.S.R.R. for Chicago. Will be there about 9.30 P.M. My stomach is troubling me quite a good deal.
Nov 30 – Finished the stable door and hung it. Pleasant. Thanksgiving. Lois and Dell came over to dinner. Had “Robert rooster” for dinner. Mr Ralphs people took dinner at Willis’es.
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[109] Charles Luke Keith Sr.
[110] Michigan marriage records show that Gette Beckwith and Adam Coburn were married in Galesburg, Michigan on November 22, 1899
[111] From Wikipedia: The Lights o’ London was a melodramatic play by George R. Sims, first produced in London on 10 September 1881 at the Princess’s Theatre. The play was a hit, running for 226 nights, and was frequently revived thereafter. It also opened in New York at the Union Square Theatre in December 1881 and was revived twice on Broadway. The play was twice made into silent films, both titled Lights of London, in 1914 and 1923. The play was about Harold Armytage and Bess Marks who elope. Harold’s father is rich but after the elopement disowns him. Clifford Armytage, Harold’s scheming cousin, and Seth Preene, a friend of Harold’s father, frame innocent Harold for a crime so that Clifford will inherit the father’s money instead of Harold. Seth aids Clifford because he hopes that his daughter, Hetty (who declares “I hate poor people”), would then marry Clifford and become rich. Harold is convicted and sentenced to jail but escapes and is helped by an elderly couple to find Bess again. Meanwhile, Seth visits Hetty in London. She has become Clifford’s mistress. After Harold rescues Seth from drowning, Seth decides to confess his crime so Harold will receive his inheritance and Clifford will get the punishment he deserves.
Letters & Diary Entries From the 1860s through the 1890s 