September 1878

1 Day September     Frank started to Roston  Sunday     Bally and the Springer girls Spent the evening      Anna worse      John went to Bens       Jase come Alan went to Pella
2 Day     John got the wagon to gather corn       Lillie gone home with him       Harville rode over home       old man and Pea gathering peas     Etta here horse hunting he talked some
[BTM] Etta, may likely be the James ETTER found in the 1880 Census for Montague Co. in HH#344/345,  the neighbor of James CESSER HH#345/346 and William HESTER HH# 346/347 & his father Davis HESTER HH#347/348 and Ben GAGE,  living in HH#348/349. 
and Jason TILLMAN living in HH# 349/350, son-in-law of the TOTTY's

3 Day    old man went to Pella       Frank got home     Alan at Crosses       Harville has fever      Anna very sick       I finished my dress
[BTM] Pella was an early pioneer Town in Montague Co. TX.  Anna [nee Totty] was wife of John Harville. 

4 Day    Harville very Sick       Anna and Sid better        Ben come his folks up       I washed      Stood it very well       felt in despair to night        Frank Set down by me looked and spoke so kind to me it was like balm to my soul
[BTM]  Sid was the young son of John & Anna Harville.  Sounds like Rhoda was very depressed on top of feeling bad and was not accustomed to sympathetic jesters from her family.    Her words speak for themselves.

5 Day Sep     old man and Ben Spent the day at the Burg   bought a wagon       Louisa Staid with me      Bart come him and Pea went to Pella      bought a lot of goods      John and Anna Still Sick      musquitos raised      all of them out all night
6 Day     Ben got his wagon  Harville and Anna went home with them      Pea gone to Pella      looks like a calm after a Storm  did not last long  John drove up with his family  we gave up      I was sick all night
7 Day    got up this morning and went to work as usual      feel out of heart     went to bed   Lewis and Willie Totty and Cab Jenkins come     old man got dinner     we went to Bens   Harvlle and Anna better       John and Sarah gone home
[BTM] Cab Jenkins may likely be J. Jenkins found in the 1880 Census in Precinct #1, HH# 99/107, the only Jenkins found in Montague Co. on this census.

8 Sep Sunday    went to hear brother Gower    took dinner at Hodges  Gower did Some big preaching     John and Anna went home
9 Day Monday   Frank and George went to meeting       Rain old man and Alan trying to Sleep Whittys boys come to pick cotton but gave it out
[BTM] I can’t find the surname Whitty in the census for Montague Co., anybody got any idea who Whitty boys were?

10 Day   Lillie taken Sick      me and Frank went to Pella       I went to the Dr but he was not at home Saw Murphy      come home had fever  all this eveing
11 Day     Frank broke the wagon me and Lillie had fever      Mrs Whitty come     Pea picked Cotton      old man worked at a basket      Northern Still blowing Cold   glad to See it musquitos cant bite
the 12 Day Sep     Some frost    glad of that       I was very Sick all day high fever      was not for Frank don’t know what I would do      nigger here to live
13 Day      Frank brought Louisa down      She Spent the day      I was very Sick again been thinking of the Land where Sickness Sorrow pain and death are felt and feared no more   oh for that good place
14 Day     Still Sick      Jase and Bettie come brought their boy      Frank and Jase went to Pella
15 Day  Sunday    feel better Bettie been with me all day      boys gone to meeting  looks like Indian Summer
16 Day     Frank and Alan Sick      Pea got home from Harvills        old man went to Chads got them to pick cotton      I have had no fever to day       old man got a letter from Crawford     Chads gone glad of it
[BTM]  looks like Capt Totty may have used this page to write down some of his account information. 

Clearing  = gg 5.00
Yearling          4.00
Settled for P    1.00
Cow skin           .95
                      10.95
work              11.30
                      22.25

17 Day    Chads all come     Parkes at work on the wagon       Cloudy this evening    feel badly to night      think I will never get well
[CKW] Possibly CHAD's, is just a shortened version of CHADWICK mentioned earlier.   William CHADWICK HH#351 had 7 oys and 2 girls and would certainly have made a likely candidate for hiring/swapping the job of picking cotton.

September the 18th Day     warm and cloudy had the Chads to Stay with us last night old man finished his wagon    Frank and George gone to Rosston   Pea went with them   Alan has fever    the Chads come down Staid all night
19th Day     washed very tired unexpected visitors   Mrs. Havener and Mrs Latty Spent the day glad of their Company   Frank got back   high wind from the South   looks like rain
20 Day   big rain before day    wind from North this morning   Cool and pleasant    Frank got the mule       killed a hog    Lillie got a chill
21 Day     put floor in the crib   old man and me went to Harvilles found them doing very well   eat some pound cake and got some big apples   went to the Burg    Alan Staid at home
September the 22 Day    Sunday     Alan and Lillie gone to meeting Frank gone off on Dick me and the old man alone
[BTM] Dick he either their horse or mule

23 Day  Whitly and Cook Come all hands gathering corn   George and Alan helping Frank..  don’t know where Pea is feel uneasy about him    Lillie coughing don’t get any better
[BTM] Whitly and Cook are neighbors of the Totty family.

24 Day  Candidates come early   Corn gathering Still goin on..   warm this morning   another Candidate    boys talks of Shelling corn over his head
[BTM] I wonder if she is saying the corn workers are candidates? If not who or what were they Candidates of?  Could it be a corn shucking contest?

25  Day     Still gathering Corn another candidate..   James E. Harville took dinner and talked Some   John Harville come been to Jases    Jase Sick   I want to go and see him and Bettie but have to Stay here and Cook for them
[BTM] James E. Harville was the father of John Harville husband of Rhoda & Capt’s daughter Anna (Totty) Harville.   John was checking on his brother in law Jason TILLMAN husband of Bettie (Totty) TILLMAN

26 Day  of September    Dave Valentine come  old man bought his pony    I had a chill while I was getting dinner   Mose come Said Cannons babe was dead     rained today had to quit gathering corn
[BTM] In HH#10/11 of Precinct #4 was Newton CANNON age 46 WM46 farmer AR, wife Martha WF 46, MS, Jemima C., WF 20, AR, Nettie B. WF 16 AR, George Edw WF 11 TX, and Wm. H. age 9 TX.    I wonder if this Wm H. CANNON is the same as William H. CANNON that Hattie Fortune TOTTY(ex wife of W.M.Totty) was living with in the 1910 Ellis Co. TX Census?   In same HH was Bennie TOTTY son of William Marion TOTTY & Hattie.

27 Day     raining this morning     old man and me went to Jases after dinner     I rode my pony found them up but looking badly      Saw the girl with her finger in her mouth at Norrises   must be from Arkansaw      come back home     Lillie had been crying   I had fever
[BTM] She could likely been visiting Dr. Williamson C. NORRIS when she "saw the girl with her finger in her mouth".

28 Day   old man gone to the Burg  Lillie rode the pony and went to Harvilles to make up for Staying alone yesterday   I had high fever all day   Staid by my Self thought of thousands of things that’s past and gone   thought I was in a bad fix but then I thought of folks with yellow fever   I was not as bad off as they was   I could get up and get a drink of water and many of them could not do that so I done the best I could    old man and Lillie got back in the evening
[BTM] It is nice to see Rhoda looking at positive side of her life.   We can be suffering a lot with illness etc., but there is ALWAYS someone else worse off.   Show’s us we should always count our many blessings each day. 

September the 29th Day  Sunday    Frank and Alan gone to the Burg  again   Alan back  old mans hat mashed he is mad about it     Frank and George did it     I have been taking quinine all day cant See good this evening fear it’s the quinine fever was high last night Suffered a great deal thought the night 
30 and last day of September     glad its gone     one more month nearer my home of rest  where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest ( I Surely am the weary)     Alan and Frank gathering corn      old man and the Cook children picking cotton 
 

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Transcribed from Original Diary by Birdie (Totty) McNutt ©2000