2015 June 22, Amanuensis Monday: J.P.McPherson's Diary, July 1, 1851 through August 31, 1851

Although July and August were harvest months in the village of Springdale, Wisconsin,  James P. McPherson managed to go to Madison on July 2nd to pick up the wool bags.  He started to pack wool on July 7th, but was "stopt by rain."  There is no further mention of the wool for the remainder of July and August.  He was also in correspondence with R. Grant and received a draft for $100 on August 6th.  Considering the timing of the letters to and from R. Grant and the money drafts from R. Grant, it may be that R. Grant and James P. McPherson were engaged in a business relationship and  that McPherson may have been selling the wool to Grant.  To date, I cannot verify that relationship, but it is an intriguing question.

My great great great grandfather J. P. McPherson had strong political aspirations and as we have previously seen, he had been involved in the school meetings and building of the school.  On July 20th, his diary noted that he was in attendance "At Meeting."  Shortly afterwards, he noted that Mr. Lamont was appointed Post Master and that the Board of Health was organized.  These are interesting entries because as we will see in the future, James P. McPherson was a long time Post Master in Springdale and very involved in county health issues.

The last entry for August was rather curious and I was not exactly sure what to make of the entry that stated, "At Henry Bolton's grave for Black Horse."   I suppose that it could have been a very important black horse  -- or perhaps, Bolton just needed help burying his horse.  I do wish my Scots ancestor would not have been so sparse with is words. 

Journal Entries for 

July 1, 1851 through August 31, 1851

July     1st  Tues     Hoeing corn for Mr. Paton.

   "      2nd  Wed     At home.

   "      3rd   Thurs. At Madison. Recd Wool Bags.

   "      4th   Fri.     At home and Mr. Andersons.

   "      5th   Sat.    Hoeing corn for Mr. Anderson.

   "      6th   Sun.   At home.

   "      7th   Mon.  Started to pack Wool. Stopt by rain.

   "      8th   Tues.   Packing Wool.

   "      9th   Wed.       DO      DO   Recd letter from R. Grant

   "     10th  Thurs.  Cutting thatch.

   "     11th   Fri.    Cutting hay.  Posted letter to R. Grant.

   "     12th   Sat.       "        "

   "     13th   Sun.   Visited by Robert Thomson, Green Co.

   "     14th   Mon.  Cutting hay. Delivered to J. Stewart. Paid him $8.

   "     15tHh Tues.   Cutting hay. * Land Appraisal.(To highlight important text, JPMcP used a symbol which looked like an X” with dots at each intersection. I have used an asterisk for his symbol. //JGH)

   "     16th  Wed.    Hauling hay for Mr. Anderson. *(The above notation about Land Appraisal* and the "*" after Mr. Anderson appear to be added after the original entry,//JGH

    "     17th   Thurs.     “               “       “    Self.

   "    18th    Fri.     Raining. Posted letter to R. Grant.

   "    19th    Sat.     Thatched roof of house.

   "    20th    Sun     At meeting.

   "    21st    Mon    Binding for Mr. Anderson.

   "    22nd  Tues.        "        "   Mr. Davidson.

   "    23rd   Wed.        "        "    "      "  till noon.  Rain in afternoon.

   "    24th   Thurs.      "        "    "      "  All Day.

   "    25th   Fri.          "        "    "      "  Posted letter to Anne Adamson.

   "    26th   Sat.     Hauling Mr. Andersons wheat and my own hay.

   "    27th   Sun.    At home.

   "    28th   Mon.   Harvesting for Mr. Davidson

   "    29th   Tues.         "          "   Mr. Anderson.

   "    30th   Wed.         "          "     "      "

   "    31st   Thurs.       "          "  Self. 

Augut 1st    Fri.     At John Stewarts & Dd Beats.

   "     2nd   Sat.    At home. Mr. Miles returned to Badger Prairie.

   "     3rd   Sun.   At home & Mr. Lamonts.

   "     4th   Mon.   Harvest for Mr. Paton.
 

   "     5th   Tues.        Do     "   "     "

   "     6th   Wed.    Mr. Lamont appointed assistant Post Master. Received 
                            letter from R. Grant enclosing Draft for  $100.

   "    7th   Thurs.  Board of Health organized.

   "    8th   Fri.     Hauling grain for Mr. Anderson & Self.

   "    9th   Sat.     Harvesting for Mr. Paton.

   "   10th  Sun.    At Mr. Bairds for Huckleberries.

   "   11th  Mon.   Harvesting for Mrs. Thomson.

   "   12th  Tues.        Do         Do  "       "

   "   13th  Wed.        DO forenoon for Mr. Paton. Raining afternoon. 
                              Recd. Letter from Mr. Westwood.

   "   14th  Thurs.  Opening and drying my wheat.

   "   15th  Fri.     Raining.

   "   16th  Sat.    Heavy rain in the morning – more or less all day.

   "   17th  Sun.   At Mr. Beats for flour.

   "   18th  Mon.  Harvesting for Mr. Paton.

   "   19th  Tues.        DO       "     "     "   

   "   20th  Wed.        DO       "    "     "   Till 5 o'clock P.M.

   "   21st  Thurs.      DO       "    "     "   Till 5 o'clock P.M. 

                                   (Entire entry lined out.//JGH)

    "   21st  Thurs.   Helping Mr. Anderson to haul his oats.

   "   22nd Fri.      Harvesting for Mr. Paton.

   "   23rd  Sat.          DO        "    "      "

   "   24th  Sun.    At Messers. Wrights and Jackmans.

   "   25th  Mon.   At Madison. Recd cash for Draft $100.

   "   26th  Tues.   Harvesting for Mr. Paton.

   "   27th  Wed.     DO          DO      DO     Bot corn from Mr. Jackman.

   "   28th  Thurs.   DO          DO      DO

   "   29th  Fri.       DO          DO      DO

   "   30th  Sat.    Took up onions and some Potatoes.

   "   31st  Sun.   At Henry Boltons grave for black horse.

End of July and August, 1851, diary entries.

  

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 © Joan G. Hill, Roots'n'Leaves Publications