Totty Roots

 
 
 
November 1876 Diary of Rhoda Spradling Totty
 transcribed by Birdie Totty McNutt

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Introduction

The Diary(s) of Rhoda Spradling Totty is being provided here for those who are researching the TOTTY family and their friends, neighbors and families.
These are exact words as written by my great great grandmother in her own penmanship the only change(s) made are Capital or UPPER Case Letters on mentioned surnames or my comments in brackets [BTM].      The Diary(s) have been in private ownership by the TOTTY family all these years, and have never been published, or copied with the exception of excerpts printed in 1957 in the  "CENTENNIAL Forestburg, Texas a History of Forestburg Cattle and Watermelon Center" [Montague County] .
This is the FIRST time that the Diary(s) have ever been released with permission and "exclusive rights" in their entirety to anyone.    I am very honored to be the one given this priviledge.   I believe these diaries should be Shared by our families to help document and learn about our ancestory and how they lived and died in the 1800's.  I hope to do that by publishing the diaries.   They span 22 years of Rhoda SPRADLING TOTTY's life from May 9, 1876 to her death in April 1899.   Births, deaths, burials, marriages and the weather are documented throughout the books on many families and neighbors in Montague County, Texas.  Rhoda has a unique way of writing her thought's down for us to see what happened on a day to day basis.

NOTE: This copyright© data CAN NOT be reproduced in ANY format for profit or other presentation "without" the express written permission of the the owner and transcriber of these diaries.
Transcribed from Original Diary by Birdie (Totty) McNutt ©1999
 

NOTE:  also see copyright restrictions

(Digging for our Totty Roots and finding the leaves on our Totty genealogy tree)


November 1876 - Diary
of Rhoda Spradling Totty 

 

November 1876

Day 1-8 Missing from this diary
9th Nov       Louisa come staid a few minutes   Mr TOTTY and the boys got a book from Dallas
[BTM]   Rhoda was always so proud when she got a new book to write her daily happenings down in for us to read so many years later.   She had been writing her diary on lined paper.

10th      Mr CHESSERS babe died to day      Lillie had a fever    Bettie had some fever 
[BTM]   Neighbors of  Louisa and Ben GAGE was a James and Frances CHESSER in the 1880 census, this could likely have been their baby that died.  Had the baby lived it would have been at least 4 years old or older.  In the census for 1880, the CHESSERS have a child, Elizabeth age 14,  Uel age 6 and age and James age 2.

11th    Ben and Louisa come we went to the burying of Mrs CHESSERS babe       brother Sam and Daniel SPENCER family got here this evening]
[BTM[   One of the hardest things in life is to see a poor little innocent baby being laid to rest, what a sorrowful thing for parents to endure.   Rhoda again called Sam SPENCER her brother, same as Daniel SPENCER and his family.    They are half brothers by Susannah before she married David SPRADLING, which would make them half brothers to Rhoda.

12th      Ben and Louisa went home   our other Kin folks still here   warm today.
[BTM]  Rhoda is again claiming Sam and Daniel SPENCER and his family as her kin folks.

13th      A roaring norther  rain   wind  and sleet     winter in earnest
14th      Still Cold killed hogs today
15th      our kin folks left this morning
16th      Brother PAINE paid up for the mules     Brother TILLMAN put in an appearance   Frank M's birth day 19 to day
[BTM]  We know that the TILLMAN's were related to our TOTTY family through Jason TILLMAN, but how is Brother PAINE related or connected to our TOTTY family, could this likely be a "brother" PAINE through Susannah, Rhoda's mother before she married to David SPRADLING, puzzles, puzzles to work out, as we try to sort out our related families and get them documented!

17th      I went to see Tilda and the children    found the baby very low  think I will bring her home
18th      Daniel came down to rent the place
[BTM]  This would be brother Daniel SPENCER, here to rent from Rhoda and F.M.Totty.

19th     John brought his babe     Bob took dinner
20th     I went Mr SPRINGERS to see Bally       Mr YANDELL and wife set til bed time
[BTM]  Mr & Mrs YANDELL were visiting  and are the parents of Sarah Ellen YANDELL TOTTY my great grandmother,  I just wish Rhoda would have mentioned them by given names.......

21st      Brother TILLMAN and Will SPENCER left this morning for Eastern Texas   baby seems better today]
[BTM]  So now we have Rhoda's brothers or nephews Will, Sam and Daniel SPENCER and most likely they are from Upshur County, in East Texas,  they could be children or grandchildren of Susannah _____, Spencer  SPRADLING.

22nd      Baby still better    John got his ch_irs.... [edge of paper gone & written above chir  is word] my     done   Norther and Sleet this evening
[BTM]   This could possibly mean John either fixed or made & fixed or completed chairs? for Rhoda.

23        Beautiful Sun Shiney day     Mrs YANDLE took my comfort to quilt       I washed and ironed and got ready to go to Mansfields..     her baby seems worse to night      feel uneasy about it.
[BTM]   She likely ment that Tilda's baby seems worse, Rhoda did not say which baby was worse but on previous days, it was Tilda's baby that was ill.   Rhoda was getting ready to go see Mansfield ESTES son of Matilda EASLEY ESTES TOTTY, wife of Robert TOTTY and her dec'd mother-in-law.

24th    Went to Mansfields   had quite a pleasant visit    staid all night
25th    Come home John Bart and Tilda come down to stay all night    Baby better again
26th    Jase and Bettie went to Bens        John and Bart went home this evening        been a warm day
27th    killed hogs      Lewis TOTTY and Mans
[BTM]  Rhoda did not finish her entry here, but she was likely talking about her husbands brother Lewis TOTTY and ½ brother Mansfield ESTES.

28th     Mrs BOURLAND spent the day
29th     Cold wind from north
30th     Mrs YANDELL got my comfort out      last day of November   hard cold to Night   will be a freeze
[BTM]  Sarah Ellen's mother finished quilting Rhoda's comfort for her.   Sounds like it was just in time for the freezing weather.

NOTE: This copyright© data CAN NOT be reproduced in ANY format for profit or other presentation "without" the express written permission of the the owner and transcriber of these diaries. 
Transcribed from Original Diary by Birdie (Totty) McNutt ©1999

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