Part of a year-long weekly series of excerpts from Ypsilanti teenager Allie McCullough's 1874 diary, from the last year of her life.You may remember that last week Allie was still not feeling quite well, and fretting that the boys at school would get up their picnic before she was well enough to go. She also was worried that her girlfriend Carrie might be getting sick: "I would not have it for anything."
May 15 Fri. Ma and Marion went down to Gill's and left me all alone to get dinner. It was alright, but I burnt the meat a little but Will said it was first rate. Did up all of the dinner work. About four o'clock Tom and Barnard came from Milford. I had to get dinner for them. They went out to the shop and I got supper. They are to stay all night. Ma got home after supper.
May 16 Sat. It rained this morning. Ma got her teeth. My ear is running yet, have a fearful headache. Miss Carson came over this afternoon. Ma and Marion were gone almost all of the afternoon calling.
May 17 Sun. Felt bad enough all day. Read some. Wrote a letter to Ida and sent her three cards (gave her some good advice).
May 18 Mon. Expected to go to school today, but did not. Read French and find that it makes my head ache fearfully, but if I go to school next week, must get used to the headache, for I shall have to study hard enough. Carrie was down tonight but made a very short call.
May 19 Tues. Joe came down after school. Her visits always cheer me up. I feel ten per cent better. Went out to the gate with her. It is the first time that I have been out since that Friday night. Mrs. M. and son and Miss W. were here and spent the evening. We had quite a nice time. Will brought me some medicine to take.
May 20 Wed. Felt quite a little better today. Dressed and went up town (but with my head done up). Went to Mary's and stayed until supper time. Went home and found Aunt Clara from Detroit. After supper Carrie N. and Joe W. came. We had a splendid time. They think that I look terrible poor. They stayed until after dark.
May 21 Thurs. Have read French and translated some Latin and slept the rest of the time. Have had quite a nice visit with Aunt Clara. Have tried to make myself take up the Geometry to study, but cannot come to it. Am afraid that I shall have a fearful time when I go back to school.
May 22 Fri. Nothing must do but that Will and Pa must have a doctor so Dr. Patterson came. Gave me a lot of horrid medicine to take every hour of the day; a pill every other hour and it has made me feel horrid sick. Have not cared all day whether I live or die. Ma and Aunty went up to Ann Arbor, had a very nice time. Got back about 4:30.
May 23 Sat. Dressed and went up to Carrie N's. Joe was there and we had a good chat. I stayed until about six. Carrie came down town with me. Saw Mr. VanCleve and almost all of the boys. Miss Pierce came down this morning on her little pony to see me, so I have seen them all. Carrie W. came down town with us. Aunty got me a lovely lavender tie. I went up to the Post Office about dark.
May 24 Sun. Read all of the morning. Wrote in the afternoon. Will M. is upstairs with Will. Aunty is out on the stoop with Pa and Ma. Mary Basom is in the parlor with the girls. I am alone in the sitting room. Wish some of the girls were here to talk with me. Believe I will play on the organ and see if I can dispel this feeling of lonesomeness.
4 comments :
Wow, how cool. I burned all my old diaries...maybe I will keep my current one. Just in case. LOL!
I was thrilled to see you looked at my photos. That stained glass window was actually on a nearby Church, I should probably put captions under that set so people know.
I do not know currently owns the property, but that is the best place to start, could you imagine if I got to go inside!?
Thoroughly enjoying your blog. Especially fond of old diaries - more, more, more, please.
Hi Jen,
Oh, I mistook the window, sorry. Yes, as you know you should be able to find out the current owner; my understanding is that property ownership is a matter of public record, at least in my neck of the wood. In my case I can easily search online at my county government website.
I was trying to think of some method by which you could tour the inside, but I imagine the (unknown) structural integrity might pose some liability issues. I was originally thinking perhaps a talk with a realtor might point you in the right direction, but they might shy away if they think it's a somewhat dangerous property to enter. Hmm, there must be some way...
Dear Scriptor Senex,
Thank you for your kind comment! I too am fascinated by old diaries, and the Archives has quite a few. My aim is to transcribe them all over time; I think they're an invaluable resource for understanding the era of the writer; so different from the dry accounts in most history books.
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