December 1880

Page 57
December the first 1880   not So cold as it has been Mrs Simpson come   Frank and his pap picked cotton
BTM]  Mrs Simpson is the “new” neighbor lady, Laura, she was married to Marion and they were living in HH#375/376 near the Totty families in the census for 1880

2 Day   Charley Said they had a girl at his house     Bettie and Rob come   Tilda and me washed     Mollie went to her Mas     warm to night    old man talking of takeing the bone cut of his meat
BTM]  Charley (Julius) Douthet is most likely the former boarder who lived with his wife Mary, who live in the home of Rhoda and Captain Totty, before moving to the Freemans.  Bettie is Rhoda and the Captain’s daughter and Rob is their 2 yr old grandson Robert TILLMAN.  Tilda is Matilda Jane (Totty) Traylor, another daughter of Rhoda & Captain.  Mollie is Mary Ann Elizabeth (Springer) TOTTY, wife of Frank TOTTY, Jr.    What does the expression “taking the bone cut of his meat” mean?

3  Day    Still warm and Misting  dark cloudy don’t think there has been a clear SunShiney day in over a month     Frank and his pap been getting a trough     Mrs Taylor Spent the evening am always glad for her to come    I was Sick last night  had fever   feel better to night
BTM]  Sounds like Frank and Captain TOTTY were getting a “feeding/watering trough” for their animals.  This was usually a long narrow container used in feeding and/or watering the farm animals.  Mrs Taylor is another neighbor of the TOTTY’s and possibly kin of Rhoda’s side of the family.   She was the wife of George TAYLOR, named Mary.    In one part of Rhoda’s diaries, she speaks about  a “Uncle George TAYLOR”.

4  Day   Ben and Louisa come Bart and Tilda gone home I Sent my letter for Bart to mail   Lillie got home from School   I ask her how she likes her teacher   very well She Said
BTM] Ben and Louisa (Totty) GAGE, Bart and Tilda (Totty) TRAYLOR, traded out their stay at their parents home.  Tilda going home and Louisa coming.   Most likely Rhoda was sending a letter to her so John Whitfield TOTTY in Sebastian Co., Ark.   School was usually so far away from home that Lillie had to stay with her married brother’s or sisters in order to attend school regularly.

5 Day  Sunday beautiful Sunshiney   So glad to See it first one in over a month   Lillie gone with Bens folks  to Start To School in the morning    feel well To night    am glad of that but I am not in a good humor
BTM]  Rhoda was most probably not in a good humor because her “baby” daughter Lillie has left for school and will not be home every day with her mother.  She was staying with Ben’s parents, David “Ferdinand” and Nancy (Hoover) GAGE, while she attended school.

6 Day   Frank and Mollie gone to Bens to pick cotton    I washed at the house     Mr Totty helped me   I am very tired To night  he is Sick
BTM]   Son, Frank and his wife Mollie were gone to Ben and Louisa (Totty) GAGE’s farm  to pick cotton.  It was a tradition that families helped each other when crops were ready, and it seems it was Ben’s turn for help.  Captain TOTTY most likely helped by bringing the wood for the fire in order to have hot water for washing the clothes.  Rhoda did not mention what the Captain was sick with.

7  Day   Mr Totty in the bed Sick  got fever     Frank gone to pick cotton     I have been Sewing made a bonnet      wind from South     have to keep the door Shut  dark  dark
BTM]  Without windows or a door to open, it must have been hard on Rhoda to sew in the dark.  According to a picture of Rhoda, her bonnet was most likely white, with a long bill, loosely rounded and gathered head piece, having a gathered or ruffled piece hanging down from it, this was to cover the neck for protection from the weather.   The bonnet, which tied in front under the chin,  helped cover the face and neck from the weather.

8  Day   Frank and Mollie gone back to pick cotton   Jase and Frank Edge helped   old man got up and helped me catch a chicken   eat hearty dinner   I think he will get well now
BTM] All have gone back to the Ben Gage farm to pick cotton.   Jase, was Jason TILLMAN, husband of daughter Bettie (Totty) TILLMAN, also helping was Frank EDGE, a 20 year old laborer from Alabama, living next door to Captain & Rhoda with the A. J. CROSS family in HH#371/372, according to the 1880 Montague Co., Census.

9  Day  I finished another bonnet and other beatiful   day   Mollie gone to her mas   Frank to his cotton   my ink aint worth a cent   Hunt come    go with him    dress a girl for dolly she is doing well  (Jane)
BTM]  Rhoda must have been happy that her sewing machine was fixed, she seemed to be in a sewing mood lately.   Dau-in-law Mollie gone next door to her mother’s house, while her husband Frank was seeing to his cotton.  Rhoda must have been having trouble writing with the ink she had, claiming it “aint worth a cent”.  Rhoda was always there for Dolly when she needed her, this time to deliver Dolly’s new little daughter Jane.  We are still trying to identify who Hunt and Dolly were, and or how they are connected to the TOTTY family.

Page 58   December  10 got back from Hunts at 11 oclock last night    this is 4 children I have dress for Dolly    get in the wagon    got to Bens he has just got back from Gainsville   eat Some aples and candy and come home   Frank and Mollie went to the cotton picking at Hesters   Louisa children Sick as usual
BTM]  We know that Rhoda had “dressed” a son named John or Ben according to her diary entry on Oct. 9th, 1878, but who were the other 2 children Rhoda dressed?  Dolly is usually a nick name for Dorothy.  The Hesters were, also neighbors of Ben and Louisa (Totty) GAGE, William and Annie in HH# 346/347 or Phebe and her husband Davis Hester in HH#347/347.

11 Day    got to See Dolly She is getting along very well  Mrs Long Staying with her   Lillie Come home from School  Mollie gone to her Mas had a time catching the pony   high wind from South to day    South door Shut    feel almost like I was in jail    I don’t love darkness rather than light but would like to have 2 big glass windows
BTM] There are several LONG families listed in Montague Co., it is not known which Mrs. LONG, Rhoda is talking about here, that was staying with Dolly.  In HH#309.310 was Adaline age 29, wife of John LONG, in HH# 397/398 is the widow Elizabeth LONG age 36.   In HH#426/429 is Jonathan LONG and his wife Mariarh<sp> from England.  Whichever Mrs. LONG was she likely did not live far from Rhoda for her to be seeing Dolly almost daily.  Rhoda was showing her dislike for the dark again, this time wishing for 2 big glass windows.

12  Day  Sunday beautiful day had company  Desmid Come     I was glad to See him    been a long time Since he was here   Mrs Marshall and family Spent the day     Jase and Bettie come Staid all night   don’t know where Pea is     feel bad about my boy fear he will get in bad company
BTM] Found a William Desmid age 30 b: NC, living in HH#374/375 with the family of Andrew THOMPSON as a laborer, this is likely the Desmid Rhoda was glad to see.  Mary Marshall was the widow of Joseph Marshall and neighbor of Rhoda’s.   Jase and Bettie  (Totty) TILLMAN s-i-l and dau came to visit and spend the night.  Rhoda is worrying about her youngest son Lewis Pete “Pea” TOTTY.

13  Day    I get on ball take Lillie behind me    go home with Bettie   come back and Stop at Mr Crosses get acquainted with Mrs Coffee    Frank and Mollie gone to Springers after her things    well I will try this long lost pen   Kate Marshall found it yesterday believe it would do very well if I had any ink   Bart come this morning   Said he had moved home
BTM] Curious statement made by Rhoda about Bart. “Said he had moved home”.   Does she mean he was living someplace other than with his wife Tilda (Totty) TRAYLOR?   If so where and why was he living some place else?  Possibly working away from home, going to school for more education? Question’s, questions and more questions.   Rhoda and daughter Lillie gone to visit dau and sister Bettie TILLMAN.  After their visit Rhoda stopped at her neighbor’s  A. J. and Sarah CROSS who hired Frank EDGE spoke of earlier in this same diary/month.   Don’t you know that Rhoda was happy to get her long lost pen back!  Kate may have been a nickname for Mary Marshall or her  daughter Ida.

14  Day    Frank gone to Mrs Etters to cotton picking    Mollie and I put up her quilt   Yarborough and Simpson  Staying all night   Simpson is a Sewing Machine man he is a whiser   I am glad he come   I will make him fix my machine in the morning   or I will knock him down   don’t like him much any way   think Yarborough is a good man  I am writing about them they are talking and Smokeing  don’t know what I am writing about   look at me    but I know they cant tell any thing about it
BTM] Mrs ETTERS is likely the same as the widow Marthey ETTER in HH#251/252 with her son James and Allen.   Now isn’t Rhoda a frisky one, gonna knock Mr. Simpson down if he doesn’t fix her machine, hehehe. Would love to be a little mouse and watch her at work, especially when she think’s she is pulling a fast one on them by writing about them, without their knowledge.

Page 59  December 1880  15 Day Wednesday  Captain gone off with Yarborough   Mollie gone with Frank to Jim Etters   Simpson Still here  he fixed the machine all right   he took out his money put Some in his vest pocket   wraped up a lot of green backs in his Silk handerchief    Showed me how he could blow his nose with it and nobody would know that it was money   he left at last and I was glad    I thought of John A. Murels man, that Murel Said, all Such fools ought to be dead long ago     I tied ball to go Somewhere but commensed Sewing      Machine Sews So good I turned him loose    been at Home all day   watering and feeding the stock
BTM]   Can you just imagine handling the money Simpson had in his “silk handkerchief” after he blew his nose with it. Yuk…..  At least he did fix her sewing machine for Rhoda, which she was enjoying using.   Jim ETTER was the son of Marthey ETTER mentioned on previous day.

16  Day    go with Frank and Mollie to Hesters to a cotton picking   Lora Red come says Lillie is kept in at School     I tell Lizzie Hester to go tell Miss Green to let Lillie come here and I will take her home    Lizzie got there   Lillie had gone to Jases    Said her teacher told her to go home and Stay there   So me and her agree exactly  So I brought Lillie home and She will not trouble Miss Green again     Lillie Shall not be tyronized over by no little up start as long as I live and I feel to night that I want to live for her protection   at least until She is grown but this much by the way   Captain got home from Leathers to night
BTM]  Rhoda went to pick cotton at Hesters with her son Frank and his wife Mollie.   Elizabeth “Lizzie” HESTER is the daughter of Davis and his first wife.  They also had Lora and Red Hester.    Phebe L. (Unk) HESTER is the step mother of his children Lora, Red & Lizzie.  Sound’s like trouble in the making with Miss Green over treatment of Lillie in school.

17  Day  Frank Hauling his cotton to Pella   Mrs Springer Spent the evening   I Mollie and Lillie quilting  Ben come with a note from Miss Green    Lillie had a cry   we all tried to get her not to care     Louisa and Bettie got there back up about it..   I have heard Some things this morning that nobody knows I heard     they all think I am in the dark about Pea   but I am hard to fool    I know more about it than they think I do  and Some other things too     if necessary I can tell all about it   I feel like I have a devil in me about as big as a Raccon to night  (though I don’t let on)
BTM] Pella is an early township in Montague Co. which was near present day  Sunset, it was  mainly made up of Farming community and was an important trade center in its hay day in mid eighteen hundreds.  Pella was mentioned many times in earlier diaries of Rhoda.   Lillie was none too happy about the note from Miss Green, nor were her sisters and parents.   What was going on with Pea, what trouble was he getting into?  Can’t fool a mother, but this mother was telling us or them what she knew.

Page 60
December  18 Day     we got Mollies quilt out      Captain went to See Miss Green     come back fixing to go to Montague in the morning      cold and begining to snow to night     Frank and Mollie gone to Springers
BTM] Was Captain going to Montague on business about the teacher Miss Green? Or was it some other type business.   Frank and Mollie were at her parents home.

19 Day  Sunday   ground covered with Snow  got up fixing for the Captain to Start  kept on fixing till after dinner  he then got on Joe and lit off for Montague   he is happy now if he don’t freeze     Frank and Mollie gone Rabbit Hunting  I think they will be back in about 15 minutes  it is So cold..    Lillie Sick with sore throat to night  I am uneasy about my baby
BTM] I wonder if Lillie got a sore throat from crying over Miss Green and the school situation.   They were hearty pioneers to travel out in the snow like they did.   I think it is cold in my car with a heater going<VBG>….. Oh well, I guess we can do what we “have to” in all situations.

20 Day  Cold    Frank commenced to Cut his logs     Ben Starting to Gainsville..     Dutch  Come Set awhile     heard from Pea he is at MarysVille  I think he will come home Soon    Lillie a little better
BTM] Pea off in Marysville and finally checked in at home with his parents.   At least she knows where Pea is at now.   Have we ever figured out who “Dutch” was?    Sounds like Lillie is getting over her sore throat.

21 Day     Frank gone to work    Mollie to her mas     I go to Taylors     Mrs Taylor Tells me of Some things that is bearing on her mind   I could have told her ten times as much on the Same Subject but did not (may do it yet)  very cold to night
BTM] Seems the TOTTY’s were going somewhere every day.   Rhoda did not like to be alone with her family gone off to other places.

22 Day    Jase and Bettie Come     big Snow again to night     Dick Freeman come after me   I got on ball racked out in the Snow to Peltons    Set up all night     Well no I did not Set up I Squat up all night
BTM]  Jase and his wifeBettie, daughter of  Capt. & Rhoda TOTTY came.  Did Richard Freeman come for Rhoda to dress/deliver a new baby or treat someone?   Whatever it was Rhoda was not comfortable squatting up all night.

23  Day    Come  home through the Snow for breakfast     Frank and Mollie got on the horses and went to the riding at Leathers   Me and Lillie pulled out through the mud to Bens  got there at dark   got Scared at Shep  but Louisa and me talked some any way   Ben got home in the night from Gainsville
BTM] Shep was likely a dog of Ben and Louisa GAGE, Rhoda’s dau and s-i-l.   Leathers was most likely the neighbor of John Harvill, widower of Anna Totty Harvill, Jonathan LEATHERS found in HH#423/424 of the Montague Co.1880 census, he was listed as follows:
LEATHES, Jordan WM 43 farmer KY KY KY
Frances                   WF  38 wife KY KY KY
Sarah                       WF 16  dau KY KY KY
Nicholus                  WM 13 son MO KY KY
Jordan                      WM  8 son MO KY KY
Walker                     WM 6  son MO KY KY
Burris                      WM 4  son  MO KY KY
Allen                       WM 1  son MO KY KY

24  Day   Come home through the mud  cold    hardly get here Frank Come    Lillie mad get no horse or Saddle to go to Mrs Marshels    Frank took her behind him   Cap got home
BTM] Lillie was likely going to Mrs. Marshals to visit her friend Ida, thanks to the the help of Frank giving her a ride.

Page 61
Christmas Day 1880   Staid home all day  had a baked hen   Frank and his pap and my Self was all there was here to eat out Christmas dinner    Lillie gone to See Ida Marshall
BTM] How sad that all of Rhoda’s children were not there for Christmas dinner.   Rhoda sounded like she missed her family being home for Christmas dinner.

26 Day  Sunday     Lillie and Ida gone to meeting     I go with the Captain to Hunts    eat dinner      him and Hunt  Hodges  Keenan and Dutch Charley  all Start to Montague   I come home  Lillie and Ida geting ready to go to the meeting  to night      Ida joined the Church  I am So glad    I am uneasy about the Children to night    it is So cold   all most wish I had not let them go

27  Day  went with Lillie and Ida to meeting     too Cold to baptize   I told brother Castleman  Idas ma did not want her baptized to day for fear of pneumonia  So he reluctantly gave it up

28 Day  Cold     no name  don’t think I ever felt colder wind     Pea come home at dark   I am glad to See my boy
BTM] Pea came home, possibly  from Marysville.  Does anyone know where Marysville was located.

29  Day     well I think this is colder than ever     boys getting wood and making fires   Stock nearly freezing   the 2 bds  Brooks and Bourland Staying all night  all talking Some about the war and things generally
BTM] Brooks and Bourland may have been  G. W. BROOKS found in HH# 247/267 working as a farm laborer for William BROWN.   Robert BOURLAND is the husband of Balzoria (Springer) BOURLAND, and sister of Mollie Springer TOTTY.

30  Day      Sun Shining a little     very little  this morning      Frank and Pea gone over the Creek    Mollie to her mas   Dutch come to night     I am feeling Sorter Mad to night     wish old man would be pig or pigs  or Stay at home or quit    one or the other     I am tired of this way of doing     going to tell him So if he comes back again   I am Sick to night
BTM] Frank and Pea gone over, most likely to Denton Creek.   Mollie gone to visit her mother again.  Dutch is somehow connected to the SPRINGER family.   Why was Rhoda so unhappy about the Captain, was it because he was a Ranger and surveyor and gone most of the time, or some other reason??

31  Day  last of 1880   went to See Annas little babe good old Sister Wells is taking good care of it   come home  Captains here   Farewell to the old year  I humbly thank God that it is as well with with me as it is  and for all favors in the past year and thank him to night
BTM]  What happened to Anna’s little black haired baby boy after Sister Wells took care of him?  Did his father raise him with his other children?   Rhoda ends the year remembering to thank God for all that he has done for her and her family.   May we all live up to Rhoda’s example.

NOTE: This copyright© data CAN NOT be reproduced in ANY format for profit or other presentation "without" the express written permission of the the owner and transcriber of these diaries. 
Transcribed from Original Diary by Birdie (Totty) McNutt ©2000