Wednesday, February 13, 2019

September Entries in the 1876 Diary of Ida Isadore Reynolds (1860-1946) of Acton, Maine; future wife of John Jotham Shapleigh (1856-1923)


September entries in the 1876 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 October 1876 and August 1876 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.

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.

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.

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.


Although Ida's home was in Acton, Maine, it was on the border of Lebanon, Maine.  As you can see from the image shown below, from Ida's 1873 diary, the Reynolds family got their mail through the North Lebanon, Maine, Post Office.



Below, the 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.

On September 4, 1876, Ida, then only sixteen, began teaching school in Sanford, Maine.



Wednesday, August 30, 1876:  Fair. Came home from Boston.  Miss Moss & Miss Gilpatric came to the Depot with me.

Thursday, August 31, 1876:  Fair. Went with Uncle Decker & Aunt Joanna & Walter to Aunt Lucy's.

Friday, September 1, 1876:  Fair. Sung & Played. Uncle & Aunt Decker, Walter, Aunt Lucy & Uncle Sawyer Went to Alton to Camp Meeting. Left me all alone. Wrote to Fred.

Saturday, September 2, 1876:  Fair. Came home from Aunt Lucy's.  Got a letter from Jonny Richardson.


Sunday, September 3, 1876:  Fair. Came to Sanford to teach. Father brought me over.

Monday, September 4, 1876:  Fair. Began my school. Fifteen scholars. A hard set, I guess.

Tuesday, September 5, 1876:  Fair. Got along well with my school.

Wednesday, September 6, 1876:  Fair. Got along very well.


Thursday, September 7, 1876:  Fair. Taught School. Got along very well.

Friday, September 8, 1876:  Rainy. Taught School.  Had a pretty hard time, am nearly discouraged.

Saturday, September 9, 1876:  Rain & Fog. Wrote to Sam & John Richardson.  Went to Mrs. Joel Hersom's.  Springvale.  Uncle & Aunt Decker and Walter came to Joel's.

Sunday, September 10, 1876:  Fair.  Went to a concert in the evening.  Uncle Decker's folks went to Lebanon.  Intend starting for the White Mountains Tuesday.


Monday, September 11, 1876:  Fair. Came from SpringVale. Taught School.

Tuesday, September 12, 1876:  Fair. Taught School.

Wednesday, September 13, 1876:  Fair. Taught School.

Thursday, September 14, 1876:  Fair. Taught School. Mr. Kenniston [Kempton ?] called on me. Said he did not think they would after me tomorrow night.


Friday, September 15, 1876:  Fair. Taught School.

Saturday, September 16, 1876:  Fair. Father & Mother & George Hilton came over.

Sunday, September 17, 1876:  Rain & Fog in P.M. Went to Church.

Monday, September 18, 1876:  Rain. Taught School.


Tuesday, September 19, 1876:  Rain. Taught School. Mr. S. Lord came over to see me.

Wednesday, September 20, 1876:  Rain. Taught School. The Comm. came in to visit the school.

Thursday, September 21, 1876:  Rain. Taught School. My "Young Ones" acted very bad today. Did not know what to do with them.  Wrote to Mamie.

Friday, September 22, 1876:  Fair. Went to meeting.


Saturday, September 23, 1876:  Fair. Went to Meeting. Uncle & Aunt Decker, Aunt Martha and Walter came here to stay all night.

Sunday, September 24, 1876:  Fair. Went to Church. Walter & I walked up.  Aunt Asenath was to meeting. 

Monday, September 25, 1876:  Fair. Taught School.

Tuesday, September 26, 1876:  Fair. Taught School.


Wednesday, September 27, 1876:  Fair.

Thursday, September 28, 1876:  Fair. Taught school.

Friday, September 29, 1876:  Fair. Taught School.  After school Angie & I went to Mr. Grant's to see her brother and his wife.

Saturday, September 30, 1876:  Fair. Came from Mr. Grant's. Had a very nice time there.

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 1876 or return to August 1876.

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