The James P. McPherson
Family in 1851
An Annual Review of The
Diary
HOME AND FAMILY
As
1851 heralded in the new year, James P. McPherson family had only
been in their newly finished log-cabin for just two weeks. He and
his wife Mary must have been excitedly busy at getting their four
children settled into their new home. In addition, he was busy
attending to his tailoring and sewing as he had a number of requests.
With these orders, one might think that James P. had a large,
well-lighted sewing room. That was not the case. Rather, he, Mary,
and their four children were all cramped in the tiny log cabin (as
shown in a previous post).
In addition, the cabin had to accommodate James P.'s his pieces or
rolls of cloth and tools of his trade. Then, of course, he had to
have room to lay out his patterns and cut the garment pieces before
he commenced sewing. It's hard to believe that all of that
activity could be done in such a small setting. During January, he
finished a coat for Mr. Meyers; made sack-cloth coats for Mrs.
Thomson's two boys, vests for George and Alexander Davidson, vests
for David and John Beats as well as a coat for John, a coat for Mr.
Whyte, and a vest for Samuel Miles.
In
mid-January, a fiercely cold Wisconsin storm hit. Even though the
cabin walls had been chinked, the fierce winds and cold blustering
through the cabin must have been terrifying for twenty-nine year old
Mary as she tended to her four small children, seven year old William
(Billy), five year old James (Jim), five year old Jabez (Jabe) and
baby Anne, only six months old. James noted on the 16th
of January, when the strong winds swept away part of the thatched
roof, “slept none at night”. The
family must have huddled together for warmth and security all through
that long cold night as the
temperature plummeted. The next day,
a neighbor, Thomas Miles, came to take the McPherson
family to his home.
For the next three days, the McPherson family stayed at the Miles'
house until James P. and neighbors (Thomas Miles, Samuel Lamont,
James Beat, Robert Meinzies and Alexander Davidson) repaired the roof
of the cabin. Four days later, James, Mary and the four young ones
moved back into their cabin.
During
the next week, James P. again worked at his sewing and also went to
the Nash "raising." Then on the 29th and 30th, the
cold weather returned According to J.P., "So cold I could
not work." When we read about the cold the family faced
during that first January in their new home, we must remember that
the only heat in the log cabin was a pit in the floor, near one
corner -- no chimney and the smoke (and heat) escaped through the
thatched roof. Those Wisconsin folks, those ancestors,
were stout-hearted and resilient.
After
the hard work getting the cabin finished and then the brutally cold
weather in January, J. P. and Mary must have been glad to have
a comparatively quiet February.
March, too, seemed to be a time for McPherson
to work on his house, cut logs to split for rails, get seed wheat,
and help neighbors.
Although he rarely mentioned his wife or family in the diary;
however, on April 30th, he noted “Mary at Mitchells,” but not a
clue as to why she is at Mitchells.
On May
5th, J.P.'s notation that he dug his well told us that the family did
not have a well during that first year in Springdale. Their
property may have had a creek or spring, or perhaps they carried
water from a source further away from their property. Whichever
might be the case, it probably meant that water for the most basic
needs required significant.
Another
interesting entry concerning their house
occurred on June 6th, when J.P. "bot. 225 feet of flooring"
provided the reader with much information. That the cabin had a
dirt floor from the time they moved into the cabin in December, 1850,
until sometime after June of 1851; also there was an indication of
the size of the cabin. A quick analysis of the cabin based on
some "guess-ti mates" of features in the photo of the
house, such as the wash tub and the windows, indicated that the
cabin was most likely 10'x20' (200 sq. ft) or 15'x15' (225 sq. ft.).
The 15'x15' model was the most likely, given that J.P. purchased
"225 ft of flooring" and as a frugal Scotsman, he would not
purchase more flooring than needed. Also, the 15'x15' model
also provided 25 sq. ft. more floor space for the same amount of
outside materials.
J.P. was
able to purchase the flooring after receiving a $200 draft from R.
Grant on May 7th. According to Measuring Worth.com, $200
in 1850 was worth between $4,200 to $5,700 in today's economy.
So far there iAt that point in the diary there was no indication as
to the identification of R. Grant, or where he resided, or what his
relationship to James P. McPherson.
About the same time, J.
P. also “bot. a red heifer for $11,” to add to their two pigs
from Mrs. Thomson and he went to another raising - John Beats'
house.
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. However, he
corresponded 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 over the last few months, 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. An intriguing thought.
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. It would have been helpful if my Scots
ancestor had not been so sparse words.
The major endeavor of
the last 10 days in October was raising and hauling stone, and then
building the chimney for their cabin. When I read this series of
entries about the fireplace and chimney, I realized that the
McPherson family had spent the first year in 15' x15' log cabin with
only means of cooking and heat had been a fire in a pit in the
dirt floor. That realization made the winter storm when the
thatch roof blow off even more harrowing for the family.
As winter weather was
approaching J.P. McPherson's diary entries focused wa on finishing
the work on the fireplace for their cabin. Once the stone was raised
and hauled in October, the task took 11 more days of work to
complete. McPherson's frustration and irritation was almost palpable
when after 8 days of working on the chimney, the entry for the 9th
day tersely stated, “working on the chimney.
On the last two days, he is assisted by William
Henderson, William
Brown and Mr. Anderson(J.P. rarely uses Mr. Anderson's first name,
and to make matters more
confusing, in 1850 there were two Anderson's in Springdale)
and the fireplace and
chimney are ready just in time for winter weather.
As we have seen
throughout the diary, Sunday was a day reserved for more family and
social activities for the McPherson family. In the early days of the
diary, James P. did most of the visiting and when neighbors visited,
they seemed to come to talk with the man of the house. As the family
became more established in the community, a few women came visiting,
and in October, Mr. and Mrs. Jackman visited as a couple.
As the reader starts to
get glimpses of the McPherson family life in Springdale, we find
there are more unanswered questions. For instance, did Mary attend
the funeral for the child of Christian Morich? She was definitely
called on when folks were ill and needed help, so it seemed likely
that she would have been in attendance. On the other hand, walking
was their means of getting from once place to another, which would
have been problematical with four young children. A question to
ponder.
September and October of
1851 were busy times for James P. McPherson. Harvesting,
haying,husking, and thrashing for neighbors as well as for himself
comprised about one-half of the entries. He also described an
incident when he was husking corn for Daniel Lester and he “fell
across the tumbling rod, got caught by the coupling pin and was
carried around the roll two or three times.” J.P. wrote that
he “escaped with only bruises,” though it sounded like the tops
of his pants and drawers might have suffered damage.
J.P. did, however, have
his priorities. The next day, October 8th,
there was no mention of the accident, Only this cryptic entry,
“Husking
corn.
No
Paper.” As you might remember that he ordered the
newspaper, Wisconsin Argus, on September 20th.
Newspapers had long been important to McPherson and it worth noting
that his order of the newspaper subscription was the first
non-necessity item that was noted in the diary and he had to walk to
Madison to order the subscription.
CORRESPONDENCE
J.P. kept a detailed
log of his correspondence, but it is far from satisfying to the
reader of the diary. He often sent letters to and received letters
from Ann Adamson. Based on the diary and family photographs, it
is clear that Ann and Tom Adamson are related, in some fashion, to
the McPherson family. However, when it comes to the Hon. A. A.
Bird, R. Grant, R. Duncan, and John Brown, the letter writing
became more of a mystery. A quick search of the internet revealed
that the Hon. A. A. Bird was an early pioneer of Dane County,
but it's puzzling why James P. McPherson, who had been in Wisconsin
for less than a year, was writing to the Hon. A. A. Bird.
During the summer and fall,
James P. evidently had little time for correspondence, but as winter
approached he again took up his correspondence with Ann Adamson and
John Brown. He was apparently trying to convince them, both living
in New York, to move to Wisconsin. He sent copies of Statistics of
Dane County to each of them at least once, and possibly twice. He
also wrote to the Land Office, as well as Mr. Crawford, S. Westwood,
R. Brand and A. A. Bird. As the diary unfolds perhaps the
relationship between McPherson and these folks will be clarified.
POLITICS AND
COMMUNITY
Politics
is another
interesting facet of J. P.'s life. In April, 1851, he attended
his first Town Meeting and his friend and fellow Scot, John Mitchell,
was elected Town Clerk. A few days later, J.P. noted that he
was filing the town papers and he also wrote to the Clerk of the
Circuit Court. When I read these passages, it wasn't
clearwhether "filing town papers" meant that he was legally
filing the documents and that had to do with writing to the Clerk of
the Circuit Court; or whether his friend John Mitchell brought the
town papers to him in a bag and said, "Wouldya file these for
me, old friend?"; or perhaps it was both.
By the end of April
another of J.P.'s ongoing interests showed up in the diary, as he
noted that he was going to the School Meeting. Shortly after that he
was working “at the school.” Education and politics are two
themes that we will often read about in this McPherson diary.
Even though summer work
took up most of his time, James P. McPherson found time to sttrnf s
meeting on July 20th, as his diary noted "At Meeting."
Shortly afterward, 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 education and health issues.
In the last few months
of 1851, McPherson's increasing involvement in the village politics
became more apparent. On September 29th, he was appointed Town
Clerk, Pro Tem by Morgan.L. Curtis, Clerk of Election. The
next day, he commenced his appointment by tracking down the “town
box.” He posted a notice of a General Meeting and Special Election
for the town of Springdale on October 18th
and the meeting was held on the next day. Then on October 30th
J.P. was “visited by the Hon, Mr. Bird,” with whom he had been in
correspondence over the past year. It is not clear why McPherson
contacted the Hon. A.A. Bird, nor the content of their subsequent
letters, but it does seem to be important, whether the reason was
political, town, or business related.
Springdale, Wisconsin,
in 1851 was a very good time and place for James P. McPherson and his
family.
© Joan G. Hill, Roots'n'Leaves Publications
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© Joan G. Hill, Roots'n'Leaves Publications
I work hard to not have heirloom envy here, Joan. This diary is so awesome!
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