Totty Roots

 
 
 
May 1877 Diary of Rhoda Spradling Totty
 transcribed by Birdie Totty McNutt

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Introduction

The Diary(s) of Rhoda Spradling Totty is being provided here for those who are researching the TOTTY family and their friends, neighbors and families.
These are exact words as written by my great great grandmother in her own penmanship the only change(s) made are Capital or UPPER Case Letters on mentioned surnames or my comments in brackets [BTM].      The Diary(s) have been in private ownership by the TOTTY family all these years, and have never been published, or copied with the exception of excerpts printed in 1957 in the  "CENTENNIAL Forestburg, Texas a History of Forestburg Cattle and Watermelon Center" [Montague County] .
This is the FIRST time that the Diary(s) have ever been released with permission and "exclusive rights" in their entirety to anyone.    I am very honored to be the one given this priviledge.   I believe these diaries should be Shared by our families to help document and learn about our ancestory and how they lived and died in the 1800's.  I hope to do that by publishing the diaries.   They span 22 years of Rhoda SPRADLING TOTTY's life from May 9, 1876 to her death in April 1899.   Births, deaths, burials, marriages and the weather are documented throughout the books on many families and neighbors in Montague County, Texas.  Rhoda has a unique way of writing her thought's down for us to see what happened on a day to day basis.

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 ©1999
 

NOTE:  also see copyright restrictions

(Digging for our Totty Roots and finding the leaves on our Totty genealogy tree)


May 1877 - Diary
of Rhoda Spradling Totty 

 

MAY 1877

May the first      went to the sale     John and Anna Bart and Tilda come 
home with us        Bob BEAN and Willie C. took dinner         little sow got pigs
*[BTM]  To refresh everyone's  memory John and Anna are the dau and 
son-in-law of Frank and Rhoda.  Anna TOTTY married John HARVILL on Feb 9th 
1875 in Montague County, Texas.    Bob BEAN  was Robert [married 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 Jr. and Sandal ANDREWS TOTTY] 
BEAN.   Bart and Tilda were also dau and son in law of Frank and 
Rhoda.  Matilda TOTTY married Barton TRAYLOR  Dec 5, 1875 in Montague 
County, Texas.  Willie C. was William C. Totty Jr., son of William C. TOTTY 
Sr,  son of Robert W. TOTTY, Jr., son of Robert W. TOTTY Sr., son of 
William TOTTY Sr, son of Thomas TOTTY Sr.

2 Day      John and Anna   Bart and Tilda gone home        I have finished 
up my morning work       feel very well       high wind from south
[BTM] John and Anna Totty HARVILLE and Bart and Tilda Totty TRAYLOR went 
home after spending the night.

3rd Day    warm and cloudy    big rain this evening      crowd here again  out of rain        Annie and Willie went home      Lillie went piece of the way with them       I done some loud holering for her as the cloud was coming up
[BTM] Annie was the daughter (Rhoda Ann) of John and Matilda aka Martha Ann Walker 
TOTTY and Willie was her brother William Marion TOTTY.  I can just picture 
Rhoda standing out there with her hands cupping her mouth as she commensed 
to holler or shout LIL-Lieeeee!    Rhoda was very leary of storms and
wanted her family to be safely in out of any storms that were beginning to 
brew.

4th Day   Harville and Ben took dinner     Old man Frank Marnit<sic> 
HARVILLE went [piece torn off and missing]     Store every Son in GAGE and 
son [corner missing] ...ad was here to day
[BTM] John HARVILLE and Ben Gage were the sons in law of Rhoda.   Old man 
was a term of endearment Rhoda used for Frank.   the name Marnit is new to 
me and very hard to make out the spelling so I am quesitoning the name 
"Marnit" as being correct for now.

May the 5   Went to Mansfields   [edge worn off] ....oped out of the rain and hail in Volentines Shop     went on Staid all night     enjoyed my Self with Betsey very well      Lillie went to Johns
[BTM]  Mansfield is the son of Matilda Easley ESTES TOTTY by her first 
husband Robert ESTES.    I was surprised to read that Rhoda got caught out 
in the rain and hail, but since she was always on the go first chance she 
got, it is not surprising.  Just like a lady to not miss a chance to go 
shopping.    Betsy was Elizabeth TUCKER ESTES wife of Mansfield and sister 
to Malena TUCKER TOTTY the deceased wife of William C. TOTTY Sr. all 
originally from Hickman County, Tennessee.

6 Day     come home      very tired to night       Frank had a big crowd of boys      every thing end over end
[BTM] Frank Jr. must have had a good time with all his buddies for them to 
have left a mess for Rhoda to pick up after<g>, boys will be boys.

7 Day        planted cotton over        YOUNG got the wheat         Ben got cotton seed         Been sewing on my dress
8 Day       Frank planted his cotton         I finished my dress and went to see Ballys Baby
9 Day   Joe MARSHALL got back ..   planting Peas cotton    John got corn  to plant ..   Lewis Totty and Joe MARSHALL staying all night
[BTM] The name MARSHALL in Montague County,  intrigue's me  because my 
ancestor Nancy Ann MARSHALL was in Wise county south of Montague County 
where her husband Elisha Austin(Auston) ROGERS died in 1883.  Their son 
Thomas Albert ROGERS married Georgia Anna JENNINGS and had daughter Hattie Lee TOTTY later the wife of Green Whitfield TOTTY, s/o John Whitfield TOTTY, s/o Frank and Rhoda.    Thomas A. ROGERS went with his father to Kentucky after the 1860 census, then to Texas.   His wife was Georgianna JENNINGS ROGERS they were married in Wise County, TX in 1885.   The only Joseph MARSHALL I have in my data base is the one who was married to Elizabeth COMBS dau of Hardin and Nancy COMBS in Kentucky. Since 
we know there are COMBS connections in Montague Co. also makes it even more 
of an intrigue.  I also have a COMBS line<VBG>.

10th Day    Cloudy        I have been sewing    making Peas Shirt      every boddy been planting      Coley sick I fear he will die
11 Day        Sick to day Lillie washed      rain to night    planted the peas.
12 Day        Still cloudy      Anna birthday  27 today        I went to Johns        Ben and Louisa o..[edge worn off] behind the old m..[edge worn off]
[BTM]   Anna is Rhoda & Frank's daughter who married John HARVILL(E)  This 
again documents her date of birth as May 12, 1850 in Hickman County, 
Tennessee.   Where she and her brother John and sister Louisa above were 
born.

13 Day       Ben and Louisa staid  till evening     [edge worn off]     this evening big Storm of wind nort[edge worn off]
14th Day of May       Bart and Tilda come down        Frank went to mill
15th Day    got back from mill        musquitoes Singing round tonight
16th Day    old man went to the Store        rained again       John got the waggon       Joe MARSHALL got in again to night
[BTM]    Could this Joe MARSHALL be somehow kin to our TOTTY family?   According to the 1880 census, this Joe was most likely the deceased husband of Mary (Unk) MARSHALL listed as widow in HH353/354 with dau Idia 12, son Alexander 10, Marion 8, James 4 and Henry age 2.  Nearby lived Jason & Mary Elizabeth "Bettie" TOTTY  TILLMAN in HH#349/350.  In HH# 348/349 lived Benjamin & Sarah "Louise" TOTTY GAGE. and their family.

17th Day   John and Sarah come down       went to the Store      Bart went  to Forestburg  got me some paper
[BTM] This is my great grandparents John and Sarah Ellen YANDELL TOTTY.

18th Day   Ben got corn     John and Bart ploughed at YANDELL's       Dorcy 
Staying all night   he is a whopper       raining like rip to night
[BTM] Who is this Dorcy? a new born? or did Dorcy deliver a newborn whopper 
of a baby?   Could Dorcy be a YANDELL??

19th Day     Mr and Mr TRAILOR     come Staid all night       rained tonight
[BTM]  This is most likely Jesse Alford TRAYLOR father of Rhoda & Franks 
son-in-law, Barton TRAYLOR who also lived in Montague County, Texas.

20th Day Sunday       John and Anna   Jase and Bettie   Bart and Tilda  Bourland and Bally   Mr and Mrs TRAYLOR all Spent the day  I was Sick all day
21st Day   extremely warm been sick all day resolved to leave home for my health   dont think I will live a month  if I stay here   Rest of the month is missing from diary
[BTM]  Sounds like Rhoda is getting tired of the weather and sickness she 
has encountered in this Texas country.   She must be thinking of how 
beautiful it was in Hickman County, Tennessee before she made the trip to 
Texas.   Home sickness was not uncommon for these pioneer women.

NOTE: This copyright© data CAN NOT be reproduced in ANY format for profit 
or "ANY other"  presentation "without" the express written permission of 
the the owner and transcriber of these diaries.
Transcribed from Original Diary by Birdie (Totty) McNutt ©1999

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