MARCH 1877

March the First      cloudy and cold       Frank not got back from Clear Creek       Ironed to day put away my clothes    been busy again all day
[BTM]  I have often wondered how our TOTTY's house looked  inside, such as what necessities they own, or what type furniture they had in their home in 1877.    She was speaking about putting away her clothes after she had ironed all day.  Did they hang their clothes on nails? have their own little niche or did they have a bureau? a trunk? clothes press? wardrobe?  Rhoda did not speak of her household furnishings, were they not that important to her since they were just material things?.  Did they have a neighbor friend or family member, perhaps a carpenter who built their household furniture?  I know my grandfather Green Whitfield TOTTY was a "jack of all trade", and carpentry was one of his many skills.

2nd Day     Frank got back       all  hands moving the horse lot and plowing         Bob and Manda got back    Eppie dead          a big excitment about curley tails 
[BTM]  Bob and Manda were Robert and Amanda PERRIN BEAN brother and sis-in-law of of Eppie & Billy BEAN. Eppie HORN BEAN was the wife of William Reeves BEAN son of William &  Betsey Caroline REEVES BEAN, Betsey Caroline REEVES was the daughter of William & Nancy TOTTY REEVES, daughter of Robert W. TOTTY and Sandal ANDREWS TOTTY.   I believe curley tails was a disease that the farm animals sometimes got.  Anybody who can identify "curley tails", please advise us!

3 Day     John and Bart gone home       Jane and Bettie come       old man got back with his mule
4th      Jane and Bettie went home      I went with them up to Johns      I then went to Bobs     heard about poor little Eppies death     feel bad about it
[BTM]  Rhoda did not mention the circumstances of Eppies death, could it have been a childbirth death? a sudden accidental death?   whatever it was must have been an unexpected death, because  Rhoda usually mentions in her diary when someone is ill or has been ill.

March the 5th   The president takes his seat to day   (nohing(sic) strang hapened to day)    HARRY here this morning     Mr TOTTY surveyed for him       Frank and YOUNG been ploughing
[BTM]  This would be President Rutherford HAYES the 19th preseident of the USA.   Capt. Francis Marion TOTTY, Rhoda's husband was the first Civil Engineer for Montague Co. TX in 1858.    Frank their son out plowing the fields, YOUNG was one of the "hands".  Rhoda was very interested in all the political happenings of her time.

6th Day     Ben come to let me know Bettie is very sick      I went    Frank went for Doctor COX found her very bad...   Staid all night    nurse poor little Joey B all night
[BTM]  Mary Elizabeth "Bettie" TOTTY TILLMAN, was the wife of Jason TILLMAN.   Sounds like she is having a difficult time recovering from the birth of Joey B. TILLMAN her son.    Ben was her brother in law Benjamin GAGE husband to Sarah Louis TOTTY GAGE.

7th Day of March       come home and  -and- washed       Lousia gone to Stay with -D-  Bettie
[BTM] Rhoda's mind is likely so occupied that she loses her train of thought while writing.  She wrote the word  "and", twice and crossed or lined through the second word and.    She then forgot to write Bettie at the end of her sentence and added it after she started to begin the next "D"ay's entry.

8th Day       Jase come says Bettie is a little better     a roaring norther come last night  thundered and rained  snowed this morning.  Cleared off Sun Shinning now
[BTM]  Rhoda is most likely relieved that her daughter is a little better.  She had a way with always making a capital letter "S" when she wrote.

9th of March        Suses birthday   55 to day       cold wind from north        made Willie a coat      Lillie gone to take it to him 
[BTM]  Suses was Rhoda's sister Susan B. SPRADLING TOTTY of Missouri, who married Johnson Harrison TOTTY on August 1, 1843 in Hickman County, Tennessee.    Johnson was the son of William Harrison and Martha JOHNSON TOTTY.  At this time, Rhoda had not seen her sister in 24 years since she left Hickman County in 1853 for Texas.  Rhoda remembered her on her birthday each year!     Willie is the son of John Whitfield and Martha Ann WALKER TOTTY my great grandfather and half brother to my grandfather Green Whitfield TOTTY.

March the 10th  high n cold wind from south  (feel lonely this evening Brooding over my old Sorrow ought not to do it but cant help it may the Lord help me)       Frank gone to Jases hope to hear from Bettie   Branded the yearlings to day       John come down to stay all night       Tilda gone to see Bettie  glad of that
[BTM]   Rhoda is brooding over the loss of their infant son Robert H. TOTTY, was born February 1, 1846 and died on March 10th 1846  thirty one years earlier.   Rhoda always remembered her little son each year on his birthday.     Frank, their other son is going to check on the health of his sister Bettie TOTTY TILLMAN.      John is most likely her oldest son, my grandfather John Whitfield TOTTY, and "Tilda" is Matilda Jane TOTTY TRAYLOR, she was married to Barton A. TRAYLOR.

11th Day      Been at home all day with the children   Mollie HODGES and the YOUNG girls paid me a fashonable call       Billy BEAN got a load of corn       old man went to Jases    Bettie was seting up
[BTM] The HODGES and YOUNG families were neighbors of Rhoda and Capt. TOTTY.       Rhoda and Capt. TOTTY must be relieved to see Bettie sitting up after the bout of sickness she has been going thourgh.

12th Day       fine Spring morning the martins come this morning fliting round their boxes        I got dinner early and went to Bens   saw Louisa and the children       John HARVILLE here this evening       Daniel SPENCER was here to night
[BTM]  Rhoda enjoyed her birds, especially the martins as she mentions her "martins" birds every year, must be a tradition, as my father Vernon TOTTY was a bird lover also, kept his houses up where ever he lived.  I too enoy watching the birds and keeping them happy with food and shelter each year.   John HARVILLE is the husband of Anna TOTTY, daughter of Rhoda and F.M. TOTTY.    Daniel is most likely her half brohter or kin.

March the 13th  Went to mr SRINGERs    filled my bed with hay     come home got supper       went to Mr BOURLANDS Staid all night 
[BTM]  SPRINGER's and BOURLANDs were neighbors and friends of the TOTTY family.    Capt. TOTTY must be out doing a survey job again for Rhoda to be spending the night away from home again.  She is still too uneasy to stay alone at night, remembering the many indian attacks in the past while in Montague County.  It is interesting to note that Rhoda and Capt. TOTTY have a bed made of hay.   Eventually they get a bed made of feathers.  This tells me that their furnishings must be very basic and without luxury, most likely luxuaries were not available even if they were in the market for them.

14th     Come home got breakfast     Lillie and Annie went to see Duck    She come home with them       HARRY rode around in his buggy    scared the dogs had them all barking    never seen anything like it before 
[BTM]  The dogs most likely were not familiar to the site of  a buggy, which cause them to bark as a natural instinct.  Rhoda was not to fond of dogs anyway so this made another impression on her about dogs and their actions.    Lillie was the youngest daughter of  Capt. and Rhoda TOTTY.    Annie was the daughter of John W. and Martha Ann Walker TOTTY.    "Duck" was the nickname for Julia SPRINGER, sister of Molly who later marries Frank TOTTY Jr.

15th   Day  looks like Spring warm  Sunshine      Cattle runing from the heel fly       washed to day got my clothes hung out to dry       feel a great burthen[sic] gone   like the Methodist when they get religion        Johns come after Annie. 
[BTM]  In my opinion, nothing smells better or cleaner, than clothes that have the fresh sunshine aroma when they are gathered and brought into the house.     Rhoda is showing a little since of humor here making a pun at the Methodist.     Annie was my half, great aunt Rhoda Ann TOTTY daughter of John W. and Martha A. Walker TOTTY.

 16th     Day   Wind blew up from the north this morning      but it is not co___   beautiful day agian       got company To night   Mr CROWEL editor of the Montague news feel honored    he is a smart man
[BTM]  The word co___ is on the edge of paper and incomplete, but likely is the word is cold.     A. G. CROWEL was the editor of the Montague News which began in the year 1875-1876.  Previous to that early  newspaper, was the Frontier News 1874, and  later The Montague Democrat in 1887-1910.  Other  early newspaper's were the The Bowie Cross Timbers 1881 to 1912, The Montague Sentinel, The Texas Independent Weekly 1890 to 1891, The Bowie Exchange 1885-?, The Labor Sunbeam a weekly publication, The Montague Coutny Independent 1886 to 1890,  The Searchlight 1890 to 1892 a daily newspaper, The Bowie Blade 1891 to 1948 to name only a few of the early day newspapers.

March the 17th     Wind Cold from north        Mr TOTTY gone to see about his rails       John and Anna come  Staid all night
[BTM]  This is John and Anna TOTTY HARVILLE, daughter and son in law of Capt. and Rhoda TOTTY.   Evedently Capt TOTTY has purchased rails to build his fences.

18th  Sunday       the children all been here but John       he met with a disaster at YANDELLs and Staid at home        All gone home        Pea gone with John and Anna    Wil  Staying all night
[BTM]  Rhoda did not mention what disaster John met with, could this have been when he hurt his foot?  John and Anna TOTTY HARVILLE were Rhoda's s-i-l and daughter.  Wil (sic) would be the eldest son of John Whitfield TOTTY, son of Capt. and Rhoda TOTTY.

19th Day  Monday       Mr TOTTY gone to Gainsville       John come down  Staying all night       Been another Spring day       Mollie  Mag  and Alice here this evening       Boys all gone to bed feel lonely as every boddy seems to be asleep and old man not here to tell me to go to bed  I keep setting up reading and writing
[BTM]  Capt. TOTTY gone for the evening, son John here for her protection for the night.  Mollie and Mag are most likely the SPRINGER girls, Alice is likely Alice COOMBS.    Sounds like Rhoda is enjoying her freedom to sit up and read and write to her heart content, but with no body to talk to,  puts a little damper on things.

20th Day       Spent the day with Mrs CROSS in a very pleasant way       Lillie staying with Ida
[BTM]  Lillie youngest daughter of Capt.  and Rhoda TOTTY, was staying with her friend most likely Ida MARSHALL their neighbor's child.

March the 21th      Beautiful Morning Frank plowing       Pea making a cow pen      Lillie come home    Ida with her gone to play   Duck   Sue   Alice and Hessie all come to see Lillie had a gay time playing  baste       Bart come after me John taken verry sick   I went come home Frank gone up there to night    Pea gone to YOUNGS.
[BTM]  Sounds like Lillie is having a lot of fun playing with her friends Julia "Duck", and Sue SPRINGER, Alice may likely be Alice  COOMBS, I can not place Hessie with any family on the 1870, or 1880 census.    My great grandfather John may likely be having a bout of Malaria.   Both son's Frank and Pea busy around the farm with their chores.

22 Day      Extreme high March wind washed to day       Lillie gone to Bens to get her dress made     Willie and May come home with Pea      thundering this evening       old man got home  glad to see him 
[BTM]  There was two long sentances written here but has been blotted or erased out can not make out what she wrote, so it must have been somthing we weren't supposed to read about, makes one wonder if Capt. & Rhoda had a spat about something.      Lillie gone to her sister's Sarah Lousie TOTTY GAGE for her dress to be made.   Willie and May are the children of John Whitfield TOTTY oldest living son of Capt. and Rhoda SPRADLING TOTTY.

23       Never Slept a wink all night   Been Sick all day    a big northern rain to night  cold
[BTM]  If Rhoda and Capt TOTTY had words, she didn't say, but something kept her awake all night making her self sick.

March the 24th     Still Cold high wind from north        old man sold the cows       Frank gone to help drive them    Jim HARRY very sick      Mr TOTTY went to see him
25th       Sunday Morning Mr TOTTY got ready to go see HARRY     I was going with him but he gave it out feel very bad      set down at home      got dinner nobody here but me and him         rode out this evening   went to Bens and round to Johns    a new grave dug there LANAGIN died yesterday.
[BTM]   Rhoda did not say where the grave was dug, was it a graveyard or a private burial at Johns?  Could this be the Old TOTTY BEAN Cemetery on John Whitfield Totty's Land ?   Who was LANAGIN that died on March 24th 1877?, I don't find a mention of the surname LANAGIN in the 1870 or 1880 Montague County, TX Census.  The last 1/3 of this page was tore out.

March the 26th      Sick to day got fever got a bad spell of the blues
[BTM]  Rhoda is usually so healthy, and always taking care of someone else.    She does have spells of being depressed and getting blue when she thinks of the past life she had before coming to Texas.

27th     Feel better to day     went to see HARRY    Dick FREEMAN come after me to go to Bobs did not go brother Sam here to night.
[BTM]  Brother Sam is Samuel SPENCER her half brother visiting from Upshur Co., TX.     Dick FREEMAN is the neighbor of Capt. and Rhoda TOTTY, Bob is most likely Robert BEAN.

28th      Sam left this morning      Frank commenced to plant corn      heard HARRY was dyeing      John and Frank went
[BTM]  Rhoda's brother left to go visiting before going back home to Upshur County, Texas.     Son Frank getting the corn planted for the year's crop.    Jim HARRY was the neighbor that Capt. TOTTY surveyed for on his land.

29th       HARRY died this morning before day      (gone to fetchit  here to night)    I am feeling better to night hope I will get well
[BTM]  Jim HARRY died on March 29th 1877 according to Rhoda.     Rhoda on the mend, but always worries about not getting well. What Cemetery was he buried in?

30th       Been to HARVILLES to the quilting      met a great many old friends       had a big crowd       children all stayed to have a candy stew
[BTM] This is a first for me, what is a candy stew?   Whatever it was, must have been a big hit with all the children,   the quilting also must have been a big occasion, what with a big crowd and visiting with  her old freinds.

31st     Day     planted my garden      been a shower of rain and hail     Sam SPENCER   Staying all night with Pea
[BTM]   Most gardeners always hate to see any hail especially after the garden has started growing, but since she just planted her garden most likely there was not damage or she would have said so.    Rhoda did not call this Sam SPENCER her brother so it could likely be a cousin who is staying with her son Lewis P. "Pea" TOTTY.

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