JANUARY 1877

[BTM]  Rhoda is still writing on bits and pieces of paper, much of this Diary for the year 1877 is missing or deteriorated.   Days 1, 2 and 25 through 31 are missing and starts with a half sheet of page that includes the following entries to her Journal.

3 day of –December- January     Killed the last of our hogs
[BTM]  Was Rhoda worried that they would not have enough pork to last the rest of the winter?  She wrote December and then marked through it and wrote January.

4      Dried out my lard   think I am done for this winter       Bettie coughed  all day      Willie come      John brought his baby       I feel distressed about  Bettie her face Swolen from coughing
[BTM] The baby is most likely Tennessee TOTTY and  her likely her older brother Willie “William Marion” Totty both children of John’s deceased first wife Matilda aka Martha Ann Walker TOTTY.    Hog killing always been lard making time for the ladies. 

5th Old Chrismas day..    Willie took the dispatch      old man went to the Store      Cold again wind from north
[BTM] Rhoda thinking of the old holidays that used to be celebrated.   This Willie must be Willie C. Totty, Jr. as Willie s/o John was too young to be taking the dispatch to read.

6       Anna brought her boy     her and John went home with John Mathis and Sarah Jane come with their boy       Bettie throat Sore  she cant Stand it much longer unless she gets better       I can’t rest a moment      I am so uneasy about her
[BTM] Sarah Jane (Totty) MATHIS was married to James A. Mathis, likely Rhoda made a error when she ran this sentence together, she may have ment Anna and son John went home with husband John Harville.     Mathis and Sarah Jane's boy was Robert Leo MATHIS born Oct. 30, 1876.     Bettie (Totty) TILLMAN is having quite a bout with the sore throat, I can just picture Rhoda fretting and worring about her daughter being so sick.

7th       Went to Bens      Saw all the Children and grand children        a roaring norther again to night  Snow flying   wind roaring       Bettie better to night        the Young crowd here when I got back
[BTM] All the Young families found in Montage in 1870 or 1880 would be too small to be considered a crowd.   Rhoda could likely have ment  “the young crowd of her children that see just spoke about seeing”?

8th      John and Anna all went home       the men making rails       Bettie bad off to night
[BTM]  John and Anna (Totty) Harville were likely to have been part of the young crowd found at home of Rhoda when she returned home yesterday. 

NOTE:  on NEXT page is written;

[BTM] Does not have who this was written to or why, but sounds like it was some type of urgent message.

D   January the 9th 1877
     HARDY got corn from Jase       FUGIT got a load of corn         Bettie rested better today   Maggie and Sue SPRINGER was here this evening       Lillie went home with John
[BTM]  This may likely be Rufus HARDY who is listed in the 1880 census of Montague County as "grist mill" for his occupation and would be in the market for corn; can not find a reference to a FUGIT family in the census records for Montague County, Texas.   Rhoda has been through so much in the last few years no wonder she worries so over her family and I am sure she was  relieved to see Bettie feeling a "little" better.  My great grandfather John Whitfield TOTTY must have been so greatful for the help of his family during this time without a wife or mother for his little children.    Although Lillie is only almost 11 years old, she was surely a big help to her big brother John in being there with his children.  Rhoda Ann was 6, Wm Marion 5, Mae/May  2, and baby Tennessee just under 1 year old.

10th     Warm windy from South        John killed hogs        Bettie very bad off with her throat  I am almost distracted about her she is sufering so bad  she cant stand it much longer without relief. 
[BTM]  It is surprising that John would kill hogs if the day was warm, being January surely it is still cold enough to help keep the pork from spoiling before it is consumed.     This is one of the worst times for a Mother, when a child is so sick that she feels helpless to do enough to bring  more relief  for her child's suffering.  Can you just picture her trying to do her daily chores but stopping to look in on Bettie constantly, hoping she is on the mend, all the while doing all she can to make her as comfortable as possible.

11     Mrs BOURLAND spent the day    Mrs CHESSER called this evening     Mr TOTTY taken very sick   I fear he has Pneumony   Bettie better
[BTM]  Capt. TOTTY, Rhoda's husband may have caught a cold that has turned worse, causing her to fear Pneumonia.  Back then Malaria zapped his resistance to all the diseases and epidemics and caused him to have many bouts of sickness.   Same with Bettie, she too has had more than her share of being ill.  Rhoda is such a strong woman to withstand  much of the family illness herself , and always the care giver.  I just feel so sad for her that she can't seem to get one member well before another one comes down sick, needing her attention.  Her Christianity and belief in GOD has helped her through many of these times, as her Bible was the most important book in their home.

12    Been a miserable day for me..   Bettie a good deal better her and......
[BTM]   Rhoda is still worring over her sick family,  which may have been why she had such a bad day.   She has such a good constitution in that she did not dwell on her problems enough to write them all down back then; but OH how I wish she would have elaborated on the daily events more, especially  for us today who are researching our roots.   We are gleaning so much from this wonderful Lady, and are most grateful for the little tidbits she did write down for us.   This was the end of this half page in her entries.   Paper looks like a top single half page out of  child's notebook, which would have been hard to keep up with since it was not attached in a book.  The next top half page is of the same notebook paper with the rest of day 12 through 19 missing.

January the 20th 1877       Wind from north     cleard of this morning     John and Bart gone to the store    HARDY after the last of  his corn     Lillie and Annie come home this morning
[BTM]  John and his bro-in-law Bart TRAYLOR/TRAYLER who was married to Matilda Jane TOTTY, were taking time out from their chores to go to the store, possibly they were going to use the money paid by HARDY for the corn which gave them this chance to make the trip.    I can just see them riding along in a wagon talking and laughing and making plans on what they will purchase and bring home, while talking about their families.    I am sure my  great grandpa John, being such a handsome man of  30, was sure to catch the eye of many ladies, which likely he was glad because he was looking for a wife and mother to his young children.

21     Daniel SPENCER and Rainy come last night staid all night     Milton and Jim TILMAN here today   Ben and Louisa   John Bart and Tilda  come this morning had quite a crowd    Willie and Frank gone to BROTHERS to set up   Sam and Pea gone to YOUNGs
[BTM] At first I thought that Daniel SPENCER was likely a half brother of Rhoda SPRADLING TOTTY, but in doing a little more digging, I have found that Samuel SPENCER had a son by his first wife Mary TIDWELL named Daniel born 1834 in Tennessee.  Samuel and Mary TIDWELL SPENCER were married on October 21, 1830 in Dickson County, Tennessee.  Mary likely died sometime after her son William was born in 1836.  Samuel remarried to Celia BRYANT on February 2, 1837 and had children; Hiram 1836, Henry 1840, Charles 1842, Richard 1844, Susan 1846, Mary 1848 and Indiana M. SPENCER 1849 according to the 1850 Census records in Tennessee.   So this Daniel SPENCER is most likely Rhoda's nephew not her half brother.    I am at a loss as to who Milton TILMAN is, but Jim TILMAN[sic] is likely the brother of Jasen TILLMAN.   There is a James A. TILLMAN listed in Ellis County, TX in 1870, and in Dallas Co., TX in 1880.  I could not find a Milton TILMAN or TILLMAN in 1870 or 1880 census.  There was a M. A. TILLMAN listed in McLennan Co., TX in 1880 but have not checked the census record there, he is most likely kin to our TILLMAN's.   The Brother and Young families were neighbors of Rhoda & Capt. TOTTY.

22     Went to KENNANS bout the time the Chickens crowed     come home this morning      Milton and Jim left today.
[BTM]  The KENNAN family were one of the families that was involved in the famous "Indian massacre" of Montague County, where most of John KENNAN's first family were killed.  They lived close to John & Anna (Totty) HARVILLE at that time.   In fact according to one source on Montague county, the boards from the old house of John HARVILLE were tore up and used to make the coffins for the slain victims.    Milton and Jim TILLMAN were likely visiting the KENNAN family along  with Rhoda before they were to make their trip back home.

23     Jase and Willie gone to KEYs(sic)    back       clear sun shiney day    glad to see one clear day
[BTM]  This is Jasen A. TILLMAN and most likely Willie (Wm) C. TOTTY, Jr.    The KEY family is not listed in the census records in Montague Co. during this time period.   After a dreary winter, Rhoda is enjoying the sun shine, I can just picture her out standing in her yard looking up at the pretty clear blue sky and day dreaming of her past hopes and day dreaming of  her  future.    The pioneer life she was leading was not what she had dreamed of as a young married girl as she mentions in her diary.

24    Frank and Pea gone to mill      beautiful day again    HARVILLE here today .........
[BTM]  This was the end of this top half of the page of notebook paper, the bottom half is missing.   so we will miss out on the happenings of the days January 25 throught 31 of 1877.   I am so thankful that Rhoda wrote her daily events for us to look back and see what her life was like, learning about our families many struggles, and  blessings and finding new ties for our research.

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Transcribed from Original Diary by Birdie (Totty) McNutt ©1999
Posted May 5, 1999