JULY 1876

July the 1st     commenced to wash in the morning left my clothes in the tub and went to LATTYs     Staid there til dark  and then went to parson DAVISES   dressed a little DAVIS and staid all night
[BTM] This was the 1st birth recorded in her diary that she was midwife to.
[On the 1880 census their is a HH#132/138 in Precinct 1, enumerated by James M. Grigsby of  W. H. LUTTE? that may possibly be the same name/family that Rhoda went to see.    On this same census HH#58/62 there is the family of Green DAVIS 32, E. J. 32, Vincent 8, J.C. 6, M. Elizabeth 5 and G.C. age 3 most likely born July 1, 1876 and delivered by Rhoda as above stated, and W. A. 5 mo. old son.

2     went back to Mr LATTYs and in the evening to FUGITS come back to LATTYs  staid all night
[BTM] Can anyone identify Mr. Latty mentioned above?

3     come home this morning    the men all still hard at work draging rail out of the mud and water        puting up fence
[BTM] They are still working hard repariing all the damage done by the flood or high water they had in June 1876.

4.     the great day of the Centinial     men still puting up fence  Ben and Louisa come down this morning staid all day     Bettie come down after dinner.    Mrs BOURLAND spent the evening with us      very warm to night (little calf in the pen)     Sam BEAN here to day
[BTM] It would seem that the Centennial was a tradition of  Forestburg, Montague Co.   In 1957 Forestburg had a Centennial which included a few excerpts from Rhoda's diary, the only other time the diary(s) were ever quoted or referenced.

5      quite warm this morning  John set in to dig a well for the SPRINGERs    Mrs YINDAL come over this evening we spent quite a pleasant evening..   qute warm again to night
[BTM] This may likely be Mrs YANDELL the mother of Sarah Ellen YANDELL my great gm who was married to great gf John Whitfield TOTTY the following year, Note: in the rest of the diaries Rhoda spells the name YANDELL. 

6     I feel annoyed at Mr. HESTERs bad children  they have been at the well about an hour dareing Lillie and Annie to come down and calling them niggers        I wont let the children notice them
[BTM]  During this time period many of the children were probably just like some of todays children calling each other names and trying to say hurtful things, any child with mixed blood wheather it be indian, mexican or black were often times darker skinned and hense called whatever the children thought would hurt the other child the most, often time those children did not realize how mean they acturally were or how the hurt could stay with another child for a long period of time.  This is not the first or last time that the HESTER's and TOTTY's have a run in with each other.

7     I washed to day     wanted to go Mr BROTHERSes  they had the thresher there and several old ladies there with there pipes and I as cross as a cat because I had to wash and could not get to go..      went to Mr SPRINGERs in the evening      Frank and Jace still tuging away at their cotton plowing when it is almost hot enough to roast lizards       my old clock wont go and it makes me lonely
[BTM]  Robert and Hellen BROTHERS and their small children Della, Dick and John were neighbors of Rhoda and F.M. TOTTY.  For a pioneer woman the clock was a very important piece of furniture, the ticking and chimming of the clock would be a very pleasant sound to help keep one company.    They did not have the luxury of  Telephone, Radio and TV as we have today.

8th   verry warm and thundering       Mose come down to tell us   Ben had his arm broke   his mule kicked him        Mr TOTTY and John went up there to see him..       found it not broke but hurt verry bad
[BTM]  Mose was likely a neighbor of Ben GAGE, and this would be John Whitfield TOTTY son of  Mr (F. M.) TOTTY

9th   went to Mr CROSSES to day Spent the day had quite a pleasant time met Mrs WILLSON    and Bettie   Me and Mrs CROSS talked and smoked immencely
[BTM]  Mrs Sarah CROSS was a next door neighbor to Rhoda in the 1880 Montague County census.    Rhoda always smoked and enjoyed her  pipe and "backer" as she always called it in the evenings as she sat and wrote in her diary.

10th   Strudy rain this morning      Bettie and Jase come down after the rain Lillie come home from Mr CROSSes been haveing one of Cutlers spells ever since she got home        Ben went to the store and when he got back Denton was almost out of its banks he came back here and staid all night
[BTM]  Denton creek was the main waterway running through Montague County.  It is wonderful that Rhoda documented the weather and events of her time on a daily basis, gives us insight as to their everyday life.

11    more rain      Mrs BOURLAND and Mollie SPRINGER was here in time of the rain     Frank gone to the store to get coffee
12    Mr TOTTY sick with a sore on his hand       Pea sick with a riseing in his head       I scoured to day verry tired to night       glad though of my days work
[BTM] Rhoda most likely means Pea had what we call a "boil", I know my mother and father always called a boil a risen also.

13    verry warm to day washed a big washing      old man and Pea better to day       Bettie came down this evening  I promised to go to her house to morrow if tomorrow comes and all is right..      this evening warm is no name for it is hot      mules panting       mens shirts wet with sweat ...    Mine got his come to      stay all night hes broke the monotoning      the oldest most eccentric genices I have ever seen
[BTM]  Rhoda never mentioned what her old man "got his come to" about, but I can just sit back and visualize her thinking and writing with a little smile on her face in amusement at him.  Although she must be a little blue again this day as she  stated "if" tomorrow comes and all is right".  Remembering  the past problems with Indians, and sickness would tend to make one feel unsure of what would come the next day, much the same as some feel still today.  She, being a religeous person,  knew that God did not make a promise of all our tomorrow's on earth, so she just took one day at a time as it came.

14     his name is TUTTLE my curiosity became so high I put my hand in to his fine new saddle bags when lo and behold I found dead oodles of large heavy gold rings   I did not  know by feeling whether they was gold or not so I took one out and held it by the lamp and found it to be pure gold     I droped it back and wondered...   this morning when he got ready to leave he brought a nice gold ring to me and the old man    said he found it in the road gave it to me for his bill   it is worth about ten dollars    I went to see Bettie and as I went I thought of TUTTLE and when I got there I thought of TUTTLE and as I came back home I thought of TUTTLE and now to night I think of TUTTLE     This is Peas birth day he is 14 years old to day  1876    I went to bed last night and slaped and fought musquitoos awhile and got up and smoked and went back to bed and did the same until the chickens crowed and then BROTHERS come and I got up and went home with him
[BTM]   This may likely be George W. TUTTLE who was married to Amanda HODGES TUTTLE.  Amanda HODGES was the dau of Aaron HODGES and sister of Benjamin HODGES the neighbor of Rhoda and F.M. TOTTY early settlers of Montague Co.
15    Dressed a little BROTHERS this morning and come home       Jase and Bettie come down after dinner and went up to Mr SPRINGERs
[BTM]  throughout Rhoda's Diary(s) when she helped deliver a baby she wrote that "she dressed"a baby, she drew a picture of a baby here.    According to her diary Rhoda was the midwife of her settlement and was called upon whenever there was a sickness, or birth or death.  This baby did not have a name by it, but it is likely Jessie BROTHERS as found on the 1880 Montague Co., Census HH# 368/369 as age 3 with his parents Robert and Hellen BROTHERS.

16    John and Anna   Bart and Tilda come over this morning  I was so glad to see them  but I took the toothache and like to have went wild      I taken a big dose of opium and went to bed so I could not enjoy their company
[BTM]  Rhoda had a sweet tooth, loved her sugar which was likely didn't help with her bad teeth.  Rhoda was know to have in her apron all sorts of medicine's all the time, including opium which was used quite frequently for many ailments during that time period.  Rhoda most often worn a big white apron which completely covered her garment and was useful as her medicine storage apron. This was helpful because she was called upon at all hours of the day or night and generally did not have the time to gather up things she may have a need for when she cared for the sick.

17    the girls started home this morning       Mrs BOURLAND come over and spent the evening with me    bless her little soul  it does me good to see her come when I am lonesome
18   verry warm     Mr and Mrs CROSS Spent the day with us      I was glad  of their company  but was not well enough to enjoy it       Mr TOTTY and Mr CROSS done the wind work of a school house this evening
[BTM]  It would seem that her expression of "wind work", would mean that they talked and discussed at length the school house project.

19    Ben and Mose taken dinner with us       Mrs SMITH come in the evening      I went to Bens   staid all night had a bad spell of toothache
20    come home this morning Bettie come down to work another hot day some few clouds floating about..     the Sun pouring down his fiercest rays       Jase and Bettie come down       Mrs BOURLAND  Mollie and Maggie were here to day      Pea and Lillie got home this evening
[BTM]  The above Mrs BOURLAND is likely the same as Balzoria BOURLAND found on the 1880 census as a neighbor of Rhoda, Mollie and Maggie were most likely the SPRINGER girls.

21st   Ben and Louisa and Frank M  started to Eastern Texas to day      I had Mrs SMITH to wash for me to day verry warm        had a sprinkle of rain to day
[BTM]  The Eastern Texas mentioned is most likely Upshur County, Texas where Rhoda & F.M. TOTTY had lived for a short while before moving back to Montague Co. Texas.

22     Still verry warm      the Neighbors meet at Mr CROSSes to see about building a Church house    Mr CROSS and Mr CHESER      come home with Mr TOTTY       they fought their battles over until nearly night....    we have smokes  all  over the yard       the musquitoes  singing sound like bees      about 11 oclock in the night I cant sleep   so I get up light the lamp and then my pipe and take my pencil and write to pass off the time while  I smoke...  the musquitoes singing all the time
[BTM]  There was a Robert CHESERD  in 1880 Montague Co., Tx census living in HH#426/427 with John Young KENNON and his wife Synthia<sic> and children. shows his age 55 farmer from Georgia, then there is also a  James CHESSER age 47 farmer also from Georgia in HH# 345/346 with wife Frances 41, children Elizabeth 14, Uel 6, & James 2.   Both James & Robert are likely brothers or kin and are neighbors of F.M. & Rhoda TOTTY.   The A.J. CROSS family are also next door neighbors in HH# 371/372.

23    Slept none had the tooth ache     quite sick this morning     I crawled up this morning and helped to get breakfast       did not eat was too sick  cleaned up the dishes dont now feel like I eer could do anny thing more      feel like it would be a relief to die and be out of my troubles..       Bettie come and staid with me still verry sick
[BTM] Rhoda having a spell of the blues again.

24th   feel better this morning..       another verry warm morning        Bettie Still with me  I feel so glad to have her with me when I am sick        Still feel better this evening      Bettie gone home    John Sick and old friend Jim DENNIS and Mollie SPRINGER here this evening
[BTM]  During this time period, it was almost a necessity for family to take care of each other during sickness as Doctors and Dentist's were not always available when needed for treatments of toothache, malaria etc.   Since Rhoda seems to be a designated mid wife, and the one called on for doctoring in her settlement, it would be worse when this person was the one sick and needed treatment like she was.   Mr. Dennis may likely be Jim Dennis the neighbor in HH# 443/444 on the 1880 census for Montague Co. age 56, his wife Sarah was age 46 and they had a one year old son Joseph.

25    the TITUS surveying company was here to day      John ESTES called to day      Mrs BOURLAND spent the forenoon with me...      had our first mess of sweet potatoes to day        the musquitoes  bite so bad I cant think of what I know
[BTM]  John ESTES is most likely the grandson of Matilda EASLEY ESTES TOTTY by her son Mansville ESTES and his wife Elizabeth TUCKER TOTTY from Hickman County, Tennessee.

26    HARVILLE was here early this morning he is in trouble about Jim       said Anna was not well        I want to go to see her but have nothing to ride      Jase was here and said Bettie was sick       I think I can foot it to see her.   Cool this morning wind from north East  looks like rain       Night all gone to bed but me I went to see Bettie  found her with fever        Mr and Mrs CROSS was there        Bob and Manda  got home from Gainsville while I was at Jases..      musquitoes Still here by the wholesale
[BTM]  The mosquitoes really caused many cases of Malaria for our TOTTY families during their lifetime, I can see where Rhoda would hate to see those little critters so plentiful around and unwanted.   Bob and Manda would be Robert BEAN and his wife Amanda who were living in HH# 373/373.     John Whitfield TOTTY my grgrandfather later sold his land to Robert BEAN on clear creek.  I am not sure who this Jim is unless it is Jim DENNIS.     HARVILLE is most likely John HARVILLE son-in-law of Rhoda & Capt. TOTTY.

27    Baby had a chill before day she is verry sick       Jase come down says Betties no better      Mr TOTTY gone to see her        I am siting by the bed keeping flys of the poor little Motherless babe         John went to Mr. SPRINGERS to dig in the well        thundering and quite warm this morning        Bart and Willie come over to day Barts face is as red as a rose the verry picture of health      said Tilda and May was well       I was glad to hear that..    Mrs BOURLAND  Mollie  Mag and Sue Spent the evening with me..      Night all gone to bed but me I am siting in the Smoke to keep off the musquitoes         every thing going on in the same monotonus Style         we begin to need TUTTLE come around again with his rings
[BTM]  The poor motherless baby would be May TOTTY dau of John W. and the dec'd Matilda aka Martha Ann WALKER TOTTY her mother.   May would later become Mrs. Henry Oliver KUNKEL of Arkansas, I have a picture of her family and Henry is holding the family bible.   Willie may likely be William C. TOTTY Jr nephew of Rhoda by her b-i-l William C. TOTTY and Malena Jane TUCKER a sister of Mansville ESTES wife.

28    Washed to day Mr CROSS Spending the day with Mr TOTTY         I would think their tongues was tired if I did not know that they was used to it         I dont think they have quit talking a quarter of a minuit to day..       I have not  heard from bettie to day      Lillie  Annie  and Willie have gone up there..         John Still picking away in the well..        verry warm to day  too hot to got to sleep to night  all gone to bed but me  I am fighting musquitoes every thing going on in the same monnotonous Style     if we could quit makeing Smokes that would be something new
[BTM]  Rhoda is again feeling a little bored with the monotonous life and lack of social  activity on their farm, or it could be that she just wishes she too had a visitor to wag tongues with<VBG> like her husband F.M.

29th    hot   hot   every thing  hot  on the table and in the cupboard        the Sun Shining in his Strenth      I have been ironing all the morning        Fixing to go to see Anna dont know whether I can  Stand it or not        went to Annas      John and her was gone from home So I put on and went to Barts  found John and Anna         John and his wife     the whole generation of the SULLIVANs      Staid all night with Bart and Tilda watched Tilda get round and entertain her guests she  moved around like a little woman and fixed up a good dinner..       this was the 30th come home with John and  anna staid  all night
[BTM]  The SULLIVAN's were neighbors & friends of James and Sarah J. TOTTY MATHIS, niece of Rhoda and F.M. TOTTY by his brother William C. TOTTY both sons of Robert and Matilda EASLEY ESTES TOTTY of Hickman Co., TN. and Montague Co. TX.     Can't you just feel the pride Rhoda had as she wrote of  her daughter "Tilda" and her skill of  taking care of her guests so well.   She must be feeling really well today around so many friends and neighbors as opposed to yesterday with everything just being "monotonous."  I get the feeling that Rhoda loved people and needed to be with someone all the time to help keep her mind off the Indian's she was so afraid of.

31    went with Anna up to Mr DAWSONS to a quilting         Met a good many of my old friends among them was Mrs BOX and Mrs BARNS Mrs SOUTHWOOD Mrs WALTOM   Mrs LATEN[sic] and many others passed a verry pleasant day      come back home with Anna eat lots of homney      staid all night
[BTM]  Mrs BOX was most likely either Jane, Lou or C.A. BOX  3 neighbor ladies.  Mrs SOUTHWOOD is most likely the widow Mary SOUTHWOOD/SOUTHWARD age 31 on the 1880 census record who later becomes the wife of the widower John HARVILLE the now son-in-law of Rhoda.     Widow Mary BARNES was the local Music teacher and neighbor in 1880.     Mrs Elizabeth WALTOM and Mrs Margaret LATHAM were also Rhoda's neighbor's in the 1880 census of Montague.  Throughout her diary Rhoda talks of eating hominey as if it were one of her favorite foods to consume.

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Transcribed from Original Diary by Birdie (Totty) McNutt ©1999