Ypsilanti Teenager Allie McCullough's 1874 Diary

Mar. 6 Fri. Have had more fun than a little today. Did not go to school this afternoon. Went up to Carrie's to get her to go to the Lyceum with me. She came down and stayed to supper and then we went to Lyceum. There were only two or three fellows there. All of us girls powdered our hair and face until they were as white as snow and they told me I looked splendid with grey hair. We did not stay until it was out. S. went home with us. I stayed at Carrie's and stayed until half past eleven. Durbin was there and we had more fun than a little and some tussles, too. I am surprised at both of those boys and they must be surprised at me.

Mar. 7 Sat. Came home from Carrie's and then went right back up to Aunt Lizzie's to get flowers for Mrs. Busby then I went to have them made into a wreath. We got some lovely flowers, two Calla lilies. Mrs. B. was buried at two this afternoon. I had to stay at home until after they came back and then I went up to the Library and to Joe H. Aunt L. and Clara were here to tea and Uncle John came in the evening. He left Will in Detroit. Marion C. was expected. Then tonight Mary C. and I went to Mary W. Uncle J. came over and stayed all night.

Mar. 8 Sun. It is very stormy or rather windy. I went to Church. There were very few there and stayed to Sunday school. Read all the afternoon. About five o'clock Walter B. (Busby) and Lot and Charlie and Joeann came over. They stayed until nearly church time. I went to church with Ada Johnson. Charlie B. came home with us.

Mar. 9 Mon. Willie came home from his trip today. he brought me a card case and some other things. Carrie N. came down at noon and went to school with me. Came home from school with me and I went over to the depot with her. Anna and Nate were there. Then we to wait a good while, but we had a good talk.

Mar. 10 Tues. Had all my lessons today and had some fun. Carrie W. is mad or has been but she is trying to get over it now. Had a meeting of the Lyceum after school. I am nominated Recording Sec. , the highest office a lady can hold, Linnie Curtis runs against me. I read almost all the evening.

Mar. 11 Wed. Went over to Bell's after school. When I came back I found Carrie N. She stayed all night. We had a good talk. I did not open a book to study. Mr. and Mrs. Podley were here to tea and stayed all night. Belle gave me a present today.

Mar. 12 Thurs. Had another meeting of the Lyceum after school tonight. I have had a gay time all day. Had company to tea. Read in my Library book until quite late.

Mar. 13 Fri. Carrie N. came home from school with me tonight and stayed quite late. After she went I copied my essay and combed my hair. Then Marion came. Belle was here to tea. Went to Lyceum. Had quite a nice time. Was introduced to a Mr. Clark. I had to read and there were a great many visitors. I was not embarrassed.

Mar. 14 Sat. Had company to dinner. Then after I was dressed, Ella L. and Mrs. W. came and I had to entertain them. I went up to Jennie S.'s carrie N. was there. Had quite a little talk and then Strick came. We had a good visit with him. Came home and started quite early but walked very slow. Did not get here until after dark.

Mar. 15 Sun. Did not go to Church, but went to S.S. carrie N. came home with me and stayed to dinner. We went up to the Temperance S.S. and then for a walk. Came home and had a good talk and then went to Church. Will came home with us. We have had a gay old talk and she has given me something to think of for a while and she found out what a certain person thinks of me.

Mar. 16 Mon. Carrie did not stay until school time this morning but went home quite early. Have had all my lessons and some fun. Carrie N. came home from school with me and stayed a little. Mrs. Mongan and Mrs. Willson are here and Belle stayed to tea. We had supper real early and I had a good long time to myself.

Mar. 17 Tues. It rained this morning. I walked up to school this noon with Alfred L. He told me some things that the boys were doing and trusted me not to tell. Mrs. Varmum was here tonight. It is a beautiful night and I want to go up to Carrie's awful bad, but I will not. Durbin will say that I am in a hurry to see him.

Mar. 18 Wed. Durbin and Carrie and Mattie were here and spent the evening. (I shook hands with Durbin). We had a pleasant evening. I have had all of my lessons today. Walked up to school this noon with Jimmy Van Cleve as I am Editress for our next paper which is to be in two weeks. I shall have enough to do. I wanted to go up to Carrie's again tonight, but stayed home.

Mar. 19 Thurs. Walked up to school this morning with Alfred LeGrand. I had a good talk with him. Walked to school this noon with Jimmy Van Cleve. Went up to Carrie's tonight and laughed until I ached. Had a real good time and tussel. Have got some contributions to the paper today.

Mar. 20 Fri. Walked up to school this noon with J. V. C. When I got home tonight I found Carrie N. and Joe Nilock (?). Carrie stayed until dark and Joe stayed to supper and we had a good time. Carrie came and went to Lyceum. Strick was there and we had a good talk with him. We had a gay time during the Lyceum for it was election and they did not (hing?) but challenge votes. I was elected. I had 28 and my opponent 13.

Mar 21 Sat. Went up town this morning to change my book. Carrie N. came down about half past two o'clock and we went up to Anna's. had a real good time and learned how to make baskets, practiced duets, talked and laughed and had a good time in general. Got home about eight.

Mar. 22 Sun. Went to Church in the morning and stayed to Sunday school. Went and played all the afternoon. Charlie B. was here to dinner. Went to Church in the evening as it was a Temperance meeting and the Church was full but I did not enjoy it much for I was almost crushed.

Mar. 23 Mon. Walked to school this morning with Alfred and talked about the election. John Stoddard came over and sat with me this noon and they say that we will have to have the election over again. I hope so for it was ever so much fun. Virginia was not at school today.

Mar. 24 Tues. Mary Voorhees was here and stayed all night. The girls went to the Temperance meeting and I stayed up until they came home. We talked until real late and it was twelve before any of us went to sleep. Had ever so much fun at school today. Eve Sargeant is here and came to school this afternoon. I read all of the evening. Strickland came and invited Will and I up to Jen's tomorrow night.

Mar. 25 Wed. Had all of my lessons today and ever so much fun. Went up to Carrie's to see if she was going to Jennie's. We all went up at about half past six or seven and we had a jolly good time. We had molasses candy and it was so soft that it stuck all over everything. I accidently hurt Mr. S.'s mouth (because) I gave Mr. Hawkins the mitten in a way that made Strickland laugh.

Mar. 26 Thurs. Did not go to school this morning but had a real good time at home. Went this afternoon but came right home, studied all of the afternoon for examinations. Carrie N. came down tonight and we had a good talk. Miss Wortly called. Did not go to bed until quite late and then dreamed of Latin all night.

Mar. 27 Fri. I passed 67 in my Latin examination and 98 in Geometry. Went up to Carrie's after school and she came down town with me. Went to Lyceum, had a good time and a busy time during the social. Joe and Carrie N. had fearful fuss and I attended to the Library quite a little. They tried to impeach Lucking. They had a fearful time, almost afraid they would get fighting, but Lucking was voted back to the chair, then the ights went our and we were in the dark a minute. After a while everything was strait and we adjourned.

The 1919 Diary of Ypsilanti High School Teacher Carrie Hardy

Part of a year-long weekly serialization of Ypsilanti high school math teacher Carrie Hardy's diary.



You may recall that last week Carrie started teaching her 1 morning and 2 afternoon summer school classes. She moved her ice box onto the porch, mended some clothes, visited Alley Festa, and missed her traveling friend Lillian. She finished her week by visiting the cemetery.

July 5 Sat. Cleaned bathroom + kitchen. Moved ice box to back porch [why? Did these early refrigerators, which were cabinets containing blocks of ice in a top compartment, become too drippy in an un-air-conditioned house in the summer? Also, it is likely Carrie had home ice delivery service at 223 River, in addition to milk and paper delivery]. Slept, bathed, hoed garden. 5 gals. of gasoline. May telephoned that Rob would not come Sun.

July 6 Sun. Did not go to church-feel mighty blue without reason. Did some cleaning + sewing. Wrote to Lillian in St. Paul. Rode in car to cemetery [According to information from Carrie's Bible, recorded on her father's obit card, Carrie's father had died July 16 four years before and was buried in (Union)-Udell Cemetery at Huron River Dr. & Textile Rd.; perhaps she visited his grave. Carrie's mother had died in 1874, which is probably the year Carrie was born; she may have died in childbirth. At the time of this diary writing, Carrie is around 44 years old.]

July 7 Mon. Washed & ironed. Dusted car. Trig from 1-3. At four attended Summer school faculty picnic. At 6:45 Victrola concert at Pease Aud.

July 8 Tues. Rec'd card from L.-She is homesick. She returned home about 5:30 this P.M. She stayed all night with me.

July 9 Wed. 1-3 class off today + the 3-4 class did not meet on account of extra assembly. Mr. Burton, Pres. of Minn., spoke. Student-faculty get-together in eve.

July 10 Thurs. After 7-8 class we went berrying. Mrs. Fletcher, Miss Lambie, Lillian, little Mary, and I. Martha in eve-S. Lewis, May Webb, Lillian & I.

July 11 Fri. All classes on. Miss Creech called on Miss Gieske. After supper went with Lillian for her father at huckleberry marsh.

July 12 Sat. Bo't 7 qts. of cherries from Miss Creech and canned 10 pts. Was sick from noon on. Lillian stayed all night with me.

July 13 Sun. Took 7:30 [interurban light rail?] car for Detroit. At 10:00 boarded steamboat Thousand Islander [pictured at right] for Chatham, Ont. Returned at 11:00.

Thanks for reading; tune in next Tuesday for the next series!

The 1874 Diary of Ypsi Teen Allie McCullough

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 had a smash success reading her essay, "Step by Step," at the Lyceum, and received many congratulatory bouquets. She went boat riding and was sorry to see a favorite uncle, Uncle Robert, leave after a visit.

June 19 Fri. There was a meeting of the Lyceum after school tonight so I did not get home until real late in the afternoon. Then I had to go up town. Got ready and went to Lyceum. It adjourned to go to Public Zealots. Went there. Got a seat near Carrie. Went to Stebbs and had ice cream. All of the folks went up to Ann Arbor today and Joe went home in the evening.

June 20 Sat. It is terrible warm. Went up to school about four o'clock. While there it rained. We had a glorious time. When I went home I stopped in Joe's, had a good talk and she went down town with me. Had candy tonight and a good time.

June 21 Sun. Did not go out of the house today, but read and slept almost all of the time. It is very warm. Clara is sick; Charlie not very well.

June 22 Mon. Stayed after school at night, down in the basement to help them make wreaths for the Chapel. Had a glorious time. Did not get home until they had got through eating supper. Tore my dress in front, put a band on my over shirt and did some other work. Charlie and Will have gone up to Ann Arbor.

June 23 Tues. Stayed after school tonight. Did not have as much fun as before, but more in the school hours. Went over to the depot after school. Got there just as the train started but I saw them all and waved them my goodbye.

June 24 Wed. Stayed after school tonight until after six o'clock. Had ever so much fun. John and Fannie were not there, but were gone up to Ann Arbor to the University Commencement. They came though before we came away and I think John and Fannie especially are nice.

June 25 Thurs. Was examined in Latin. Passed 95. Had a magnificent time after school. Helped for the programs. Did not get home until seven o'clock. Then I had supper and dressed myself for the Lyceum. Had a nice time. Am elected Vice President for the next term. (Got a drink) (Climbing fences) (Dove)

June 26 Fri. Was examined in French and Geometry this forenoon. Passed both. In the afternoon I went up to school with the horses and took a lot of plants. Stayed there all the afternoon working and tying programs and making letters. The mottoes are very nice and the hall is trimmed beautiful. Jennie S. came home with me, then went back to hear the graduating exercises. They were very nice. Came home with Carrie N.

June 27 Sat. Went up to school this morning with the horses to get the plants. Stopped for Joe. All of the boys and girls were up there and we had a splendid time. Stayed almost all of the forenoon. Joe came home with me, then I went up town with her. Bought some nice bouquets. Joe told me something good that J.S. said about me. I have Joe's and Selinda's pictures.

June 28 Sun. Went to church in the morning, stayed to S. S. It is terrible warm. Read all of the afternoon. Went to Church at night. Carrie and D. came home with me. Did not stay. Go to [?] until real late.

Response to Reader Question: Where did Allie Gather Her Flowers?

In her latest diary entry, 1874 Ypsilanti teen diarist Allie McCullough wrote: May 30 Sat. Did quite a little work this morning. Carrie N. came down about three in the afternoon and we took the horses and went to Spencer's Woods for flowers. Had a jolly time. Got home about six o'clock and then went to work and made a rockery and put the vines and flowers in it.

Kind reader Mr. V. asked, "'We took the horses and went to Spencer's Woods for flowers.' Do we know where Spencer's Woods is?"

A check of the 1874 plat map (drawn in the same year Allie wrote her diary; click image for larger view) reveals that there were extensive Spencer landholdings just east of Ypsilanti (outlined in orange). There are four landholding Spencers shown. Grove Spencer, Sr. was Ypsilanti's first lawyer, and dead for twenty years by 1874, though his widow Emily lived until 1887. Grove Jr. and Clinton were two of Grove Sr.'s sons. Clinton became Ypsi postmaster in 1871--a one-legged postmaster, whose injury at Gettysburg led to an amputation at the hip. Dunno about the "Wright" shown, without checking down at the Archives.

On the 1856 plat map (drawn two years after her husband Grove's death), Mrs. Spencer owns almost all of the land later apparently parcelled out, on the 1874 map, to Grove. Jr., Clinton, and perhaps Wright.

Since Grove was deceased, and if his aging widow Emily continued to reside on the parcel on top in the 1874 map, it seems reasonable to suppose that her land might have become overgrown or rewooded in spots. It is a large land plot, and (if none of Grove, Sr.'s children farmed the widow's plot), likely the least farmed parcel of the 4 Spencer parcels in 1874. Grove's widow's plot might have the greatest likelihood of having patches or stretches of woods. Twenty years, the time since Grove's death, is plenty to grow large trees.

And it seems from this 1909 recollection that Grove's original farm was widely known as "The Spencer Farm": "One of the Officiating Lawyers, Mr. Grover Spencer, when I first saw the Village of Ypsilanti, was the father of the present citizen, well known in this community by the name of Richard Spencer, the stock buyer. His father's family when I came here lived just East of the little Village on a farm that is still known to many as the Spencer farm." Given the high community profile of this farm, it seems fairly possible that "Spencer Woods" was part of the original Spencer Farm.

Grove's widow's parcel would have been accessible to Allie, as it is near her home in the 5th Ward and just down Michigan Ave.

There is a Spencer Cemetery at Michigan Ave. and today's Spencer Lane (Google map), which runs just east of Willow Run School. One large memorial stone stands on the northeast side of the streets' intersection. It includes the names:

SPENCER, Emily H. d. 1887 75y
Grove [elder lawyer Grove's son] d. 8-29-1881 48y
Kate d/o G & N Spencer, d. 8-22-1853 4m
Phebe w/o Burke Spencer, 1836-1925
Lydia Ann, 1842-1910
Wirt s/o G & E Spencer, d. 12-21-1848 2y

It is said that this cemetery was never moved...but that just the headstones were removed, and that it is a burial ground to this day.

Excerpt from the report by the ladies who rediscovered and saved this cemetery's memorial stone:

"When Pat showed me the stone, we both felt that we had to do something about this. I called around in Ypsilanti and the Township. No one even knew of the cemetery or a memorial stone. I ended up talking to the Cemetery Licensing Dept. in Lansing, MI. The information they gave me stated the cemetery was listed as inactive in 1968. I asked about the memorial stone and where were the gravestones. They stated that it appears when the Willow Run School Administration Buildings were built, the gravestones were disposed of and the buildings built over the cemetery! I asked why the graves weren't moved to another cemetery and was told they probably checked and there were no remains left. The bones disintegrated after so many years. So there would have been nothing to move. (Hmmm . . .)"

Given the community's label of Grove's farm as "The Spencer Farm," its nearness to Allie's home, the ease of her reaching it via Michigan Ave, and the possible overgrown parts on the widow's portion, it seems reasonable to suggest that the widow's portion, north of Michigan Ave., and within sight of the modern-day Willow Run High School, was where Allie gathered her flowers.

At 35 the Average American discovers that he has an "Infernal Stomach," and goes into the hands of the doctors for the remnant of his life.

Related to a year-long weekly series of excerpts from Ypsilanti teenager Allie McCullough's 1874 diary, from the last year of her life.

What was Allie's sickness, and what was her medicine? You may remember she said,

May 8 Fri. Instead of going to Lyceum as usual, went to bed very early, head and ear pain me as much as ever. If I did not take powders, do not know that [what?] I should have done.

Dusty D wanted to find those powders. So today I read editions of the Ypsi Commercial from 1874, the year she wrote her diary and the last year of her life. I was looking for medicine advertisements to get an idea of the pharmacopoeia available to her in Ypsilanti.What I found startled me and angered me.

You may not believe this, but I did not see ONE advertisement, in reading several months' worth of the weekly Commercial, for ONE medicine I judged to be legitimate.

Not one.

Instead, I found endless ads for snake oil, patent medicines, and even one quack ripping off people with a phony cure.

All this, right here in Ypsi--while Allie lay in bed in need of some help to feel better. You may recall she was sick for a week! And is still not really better!

All of these ads are from the 1874 Ypsi Commercial. Let's take a look at the sort of medicines from which Allie could choose. Click on any of them for a larger view.

Do you need your liver regulated, kind reader? Then clearly Simmons' Liver Regulator is just the thing! You can see it in the ad at the top of this post. It says, "This unrivalled Southern Remedy is . . . PURELY VEGETABL, containing those Southern Roots and Herbs which an allwise Providence has placed in countries where Liver Diseases most prevail."

This is a very ancient medical idea, going back centuries--that Providence has placed in Nature what the human inhabitants of that given region need for medicinal plants. As old as the idea is, it is unfortunately false.

Next are ads for fever and ague (malaria) pills--note that they boast of having no quinine...when quinine was the only semi-working remedy around for malaria! And not a great one at that. After that is an ad for Vinegar Bitters--another snake-oil concoction. Like the Liver Regulator, it promises to cure a surprisingly large swathe of several unrelated illnesses.

Following it are two especially despicable ads that prey on sick people with totally useless "cures."

The first one references consumption (tuberculosis) which you may recall was Washtenaw County's leading cause of death in the late 19th century. There was no cure or medicine for TB in Allie's day. Yet the charlatan "Dr." S. D. Howe offers a miracle cure, for a price of course.

The next ad, at left, is the one that angered me the most. A cancer-curing doctor--without knife or physical pain no less! Note where he's staying--the Follett House (the onetime hotel now in part occupied by Fantasy Attic in Depot Town). Of all the hotels in Ypsi at that time, he picked the one right next to the railroad. This strongly suggests that he's taking the train from town to town, hopping off, ripping off sick people hoping to cure their loved one's terrible cancer, and then hopping right back on to do it again at the next town.

The Follett House was also one of the fanciest hotels in town...elegance that "Dr." Hebern Claflin paid for and enjoyed at his leisure with the desperate money of ill people.

The following ad for "German Botanic Pills" offers, amid the multiplicity of deadly diseases it cures, an unusual one: "For Blind Piles they have no equal as a curative agent." This is due to the inventiveness not of the medicine, but of its copywriter.

And finally, another plug for Vinegar Bitters, the cure for the dreaded "Infernal Stomach." The only infernal quality of these medicines is the greedy, ethics-free nature of their predatory concoctors.

There may have been some genuine medicines for sale in Ypsi at the various druggists--but judging by these ads, the popular "medicines" were--for Allie--useless.

You've Got Mail: from Allie M.

One hundred and thirty-five years ago, Ypsilanti’s Allie McCullough wrote you a letter. A long letter. One year long, detailing the life of a 16-year-old before Facebook, cell phones, and drivers’ licenses. Had she put off writing you, you’d never know her frustrations, hopes, and confidences—her 1874 diary, preserved in the Archives, details the last year of her life.

Over the next year, Dusty Diary will present weekly verbatim transcripts from Allie’s diary. Some entries refer to vanished Ypsilanti events and institutions. That is your opportunity to write back to Allie, by leaving a question in the Comments section below, to which another kind reader likely knows the answer. Some entries seem petty, funny, or poignant--another chance for you to write to Allie in response to her thoughts of over a century ago.

Here begins her letter to you. Click on the images to see Allie's tiny 2 and 1/2 by 3 and 1/2-inch diary up close, including her May 1 entry shown here.

May 1 Fri. Stayed out of school this afternoon and wrote all of the afternoon for the paper and it is just splendid. Got all ready, ate my supper, and Carrie N. came[;] we’re just starting when Joe came. I dressed all in black. We had a pleasant but not very gay social. I read the minutes and then the paper. Everyone seemed to think it was gay.

May 2 Sat. Got up in the morning with a raging headache and ear ache, but did not say anything until almost nine o’clock, then I went to bed. Had a raging fever all day. No dinner, blisters on back and both feet. Carrie N. came down about dark. I felt a little better and had some supper.

May 3 Sun. Ear commenced running in the morning, ached very much all day. They all went riding in the afternoon.

May 4 Mon. Joe came down after school and told me all the news. Seemed to be very sorry I was sick.

May 5 Tues. Ear has been terrible today, but I slept most of the time or rather dozed. The doctor came. He said that it was very bad, one of the worst pain[s] anyone could have. A great deal worse than the tooth ache. Joe and Carrie came, but I was so bad that I could not see them. It almost kills me to have anyone talk or make any noise.

May 6 Wed. Not any of the girls have come today. I feel very lonesome. Am nearly crazy.

May 7 Thurs. Carrie N. was here. I saw her and had a talk, but it made me worse. Joe came, but I could not see her.

May 8 Fri. Instead of going to Lyceum as usual, went to bed very early, head and ear pain me as much as ever. If I did not take powders, do not know that [what?] I should have done. Joe came tonight. I saw her and had quite a talk.

May 9 Sat. There have been several callers today. Feel a little better. Carrie did not come. I expected her though.

Have any questions, reflections, or thoughts? Please leave them in "Comments," below.