Wednesday, January 30, 2019

September Entries in the 1873 Diary of Ida Isadore Reynolds (1860-1946) of Acton, Maine; Future Wife of John Jotham Shapleigh (1856-1923)


September entries in the 1873 diary of Ida Isadore Reynolds (1860-1946) of Acton, Maine.  Ida would marry John Jotham Shapleigh (1856-1923) in 1881.

Links to the months of August 1873 and October 1873 appear here and at the end of this post.

This diary is one of three known: 1873, 1874 and 1876.  If a reader knows of the existence of any other diaries of Ida, please contact me.

Shown below are images and transcriptions of the entries and a description of the people mentioned, in order of appearance, first time only.  Your comments noting errors and sharing information are requested.

See an overview post for a description of Ida's 1873, 1874 and 1876 diaries, which also contains combined alphabetical lists of surnames and people, with descriptive information where known.

Ida was the  daughter of Jonathan Prescott Reynolds (1820-1899) and Rachel E. (Tupper) Reynolds (1833-1923), who were natives of Maine and Nova Scotia, respectively.  

Other members of the Reynolds household, at times, were Ida's older brother Edward Everett Reynolds (1855-1945) and a Samuel/Sam/Sammy, presumably Ida's maternal cousin Samuel Muir Francis (1858-1928), son of Dr. Daniel Francis (1810-1867) and Christie Ann (Tupper) Francis (-1893).

In 1881 Ida married John Jotham Shapleigh (1856-1923), a native of Lebanon, Maine.  After the death of their son Ernest in 1882, they moved to Rochester, New Hampshire, where they had a daughter Doris, born in 1898.

As you can see from the images below, Ida's physical address in 1873 was Acton, Maine, but the family received the mail through the North Lebanon, Maine, Post Office.


J. P. Reynolds farm along the southern border of Acton, Maine; with Lebanon, Maine, to the south; from an 1872 map of Acton, Maine, held by the Digital Maine Repository

Following the images and transcriptions below is a list of the people mentioned, in order of appearance, only once, as some are mentioned multiple times.


Monday, September 1, 1873:  Rainy. Made 7 [?] Vests. Washed. Everett went to Mr. Hilton's. Went to Tom's. Mr. Hilton here. 

 Tuesday, September 2, 1873:  Fair. Ironed. Grand Mother and Uncle Jacob up in ___ down to go to ____  [Quarterly ?] Meeting.

 Wednesday, September 3, 1873:  Fair. went to Meeting to the Corner.  Rosette Jones and Mar Jones. ___ Aunt Martha. Went to Uncle John's.

 Thursday, September 4, 1873:  Rainy. Came home. was ___[very or tummy] Sick. Mr. Hilton here.

 Friday, September 5, 1873:  Fair. Made 6 Vests.

 Saturday, September 6, 1873:  Fair. Baked. Made 9 Vests.  Got them all done.

Sunday, September 7, 1873:  Fair. Read. Jessie here. Lute, Charlie Prescott.

 Monday, September 8, 1873:  Fair. Washed. Ironed.

 Tuesday, September 9, 1873:  Fair. Mother and Everett went to the Falls. I went to ___

 Wednesday, September 10, 1873: F air. Aunt Martha here. Rev. M. T.  R. here with two Reynolds book Paid 2 dollars. Price 3.00. got one.

 Thursday, September 11, 1873:  Fair. Went to the Funeral of Mrs. Carrie [Ida originally wrote Clarissa but crossed out some of the letters.]  Bennett. Once Hilton. Uncle J and Grandmother here. Aunt Mary Jones. Mother very sick. 

 Friday, September 12, 1873:  Fair. Mother is better. Father and Everett went with Uncle J fishing. Callers, Nell Hilton, Georgia, Clara. Baked.

Saturday, September 13, 1873:  Fair. Carrie H or B Child was buried. Saw it. Went to Zeke's, along of Everett.

 Sunday, September 14, 1873:  Rainy. Went to  Town [?] and Cheney, along of Everett

 Monday, September 15, 1873:  Fair. Everett went to Boston. I went down to the Depot along of him.  Went to Tom's to ___[prayer ?]

 Tuesday, September 16, 1873:  Fair. Went to Tom's

 Wednesday, September 17, 1873:  Fair. Went to Enoch's.

 Thursday, September 18, 1873:  Fair. Mother and I went to Enoch's. Spent the afternoon.

Friday, September 19, 1873:  Rain and Fog. Mother and I went to Lock's. Father went and took supper. I went to Clara's. Mr. Hilton and Mr. Wentworth here.

 Saturday, September 20, 1873:  Fair. Went to Hattie's, went blackberrying. Uncle John and Aunt Abbie Prescott. 

 Sunday, September 21, 1873:  Fair. Cold & Windy. Uncle Jacob up.

 Monday, September 22, 1873:  Fair. Began my Waterproof

 Tuesday, September 23, 1873:  Fair. Finished my waterproof

 Wednesday, September 24, 1873:  Fair

 Thursday, September 25, 1873:  Rainy.

 Friday, September 26, 1873:  Fair. Went to Hattie's. She here. Mary Wentworth of Charlestown here. Mary ___ and Carlos.

 Saturday, September 27, 1873:  Fair. Baked. Abbie [or Alva or Albert?] Sherman went to Boston.

 Sunday, September 28, 1873:  Fair. Read. Went to Hattie's.  I have got a very bad cold.

 Monday, September 29, 1873:  Fair. Got our corn all in. Went to Hattie's. Went to Prayer Meeting at Jonathan Prescott.

 Tuesday, September 30, 1873:  Fair.  Husked all day. Went to John Prescott's. Mr. S, George P., Lock P., Cheny P., Tomas Sherman's, Hattie here. Washed.

People mentioned in order, first time, only. Readers are requested to provide more information.

If you have corrections to anything above or information to share on any of the people mentioned, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

Advance to October 1873 or return to August 1873.

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