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Diary of Abigail Hackett
edited by
These pages conclude the diary.
March 1867
Friday 1st. Looked for company. Lost our pigs. Read in the Home Weekly—alike
and not alike.
Saturday 2nd. At home. Read and done house work.
Sunday 3rd. Was our Wedding day. Called to S. Turners.
Monday 4th. Did not wash. Went over to Lucina avisiting.
Tuesday 5th. Had a lot of company - Mrs. M------- and Suzy, Mrs. Frisbee,
Mrs. Turner, Mrs. Butler, Mrs. L. Creasy.
Wednesday 6th. Washed and went over to Charlie's.
Thursday 7th. Chas. went to Canisteo after coal. I stayed alone.
Friday 8th. Had company, Mr. and Mrs. Punches, senior. Sam and Lu.
Saturday 9th. Very lonesome. I ironed, sewed, cut rags and hardly knew
what to do with myself. 31 years ago today my first stepmother died—leaving
a little boy 2 hours old.
May 1867
Wednesday 8th. The past two months have passed like all others, cold
and mud, rain and snow, clouds and sunshine. Snows hard today. Feel lonesome
and home sick. It had rained all this morning, froze hard a few times.
C. logged off his faller yesterday. Today does his chores and keeps fires.
We need a good one today. Wind is in the north and snow blowing. Our school
commenced the 7th of May. Dave Lockery and Mary was married today. I hope
their wedded life won't be as cold and cheerless as today is. I want to
make garden but can't. I guess it will come all right if we wait till
the Lord wills. I went over to Hays' and got flower roots April 31. Thought
we could work out doors before this time. Sowed cabbage Good Friday. Guess
I would have done better to have left them alone till this time. I will
try to wait till the weather gets warm before I try to work in seed or
posies. How goes the wind, fierce and cold flies the snow. Will it ever
get warm. I really want to know. We have 13 lambs—if they stand
this weather they will do after this.
Thursday 9th.Went to Sewing Society to Mrs. Butler's—went in sleigh—snow
and mud aplenty. C. went to Adrian. Most of the snow disappeared before
night. We called to S. Dickey's tonight. Oh, for better weather and warmer
days.
Friday 10th. Pleasant. C. fixed dooryard fence, took away banking. I
worked in posies a little. Cold wind. Doc. Chitendon called in the afternoon.
Charles wired hay for Mrs. White. Hay brokers thick as grasshoppers in
July. All hay and straw will be booked up this spring, I guess.
In those days hay was baled from the barn by a hay press and fastened
with wire. In the spring of the year farmers had their excess hay pressed
or baled to sell it. Hay brokers were men buying hay to ship to New
York City.
Saturday 11th. Cold wind, pleasant otherwise. Mrs. White called. I went
up to Miles Powell's to tea. Read a contract for Mr. W. Worked in yard
some.
Sunday 12th.Went to Sabbath School. Mrs. Kent and I did not agree or
see alike. Went to meeting this afternoon. Quite pleasant.
Monday 13th. Chas. sowed some oats. Mat Converse dragged part of day.
Rain in the forenoon. Cleared off until 4 o'clock. Commenced raining again.
Thunder shower.
Tuesday 14th. Very wet and cold raw wind. I visited to Sim's with Smith
Drake's folks.
Wednesday 15th. Still rainy and cold. Called to Miles P. Had calls—
Oh, how muddy. Went to Mrs. Butler's Dance.
Thursday 16th. More pleasant. Chas. built road fence. Mrs. Olmstead here,
Lib Harter, Mrs. Butler was here, visiting.
Friday 17th. Rain. Charley and Lina was here. Got a letter from sister.
Saturday 18th. Still unpleasant. Mr. Hill got back.
Sunday 19th. Pleasant. Went to Sabbath School. Looks encouraging.
Monday 20th. Rain all last night. Still raining. The ground very wet.
Tuesday 21st. Rainy day. Went up to Mrs. Frisbee's—awful muddy.
Wednesday 22nd. Rainy still, and very lonesome times. Never saw the ground
so wet.
Thursday 23rd. Still rainy. Went to Sewing Society. Awful muddy. A. Keith
came here.
Friday 24th. Cleared off and the sun shone. Sprinkling of rain. Chas.
went to Bennettsville.
Saturday 25th. Cloudy and windy. Looks like rain again. Carrier's barn
was raised. Chas. took ----- ------ over.
Sunday 26th. Rained till 1 o'clock. Cleared off—pleasant.
Monday 27th. Pleasant—quite warm. Grass begins to grow.
Tuesday 28th. Warm and showery—with thunder and lightning. Went
over to Punches.
Wednesday 29th. Summer heat. Showery. Went up to Silas Hatch. Set turkeys.
Thursday 30th. Cooler by 12 degrees. Cloudy and dismal. John Benom's
wife here.
June 1867
Saturday 1st. Warm and pleasant. Chas. sowed 4 bushels wheat, plowed
garden.
Sunday 2nd. A rainy Sunday. Cool with wind—went to Sabbath School
Friday 14th. The past two weeks have been very pleasant, warm. Finished
planting today—our sowing is done. Charles washed sheep yesterday.
We begin to needed rain, now. We have two little showers within the last
week. Chas. is clearing off for buckwheat today. Stove moved.
Here the surviving portion of Abigail Hackett's diary ends.
It appeared that there had been additional pages, probably going to the
end of the year, but over the years those portions had been torn off and
lost. Abigail or Anne, as that was her first name (Abigail was her middle
name according to her tombstone) lived until 1883. Charles survived until
1904. Both are buried in the Swale cemetery
along with two of their grandchildren, Charles E's. daughter Nellie only
survived until age 12, and his son Clifford, born in 1868, died in 1887,
at age 19.
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