November 1878

November the 1 Day    Alan got back..   Frank not got back    he got back this evening    all got in now but the pony     me and Lillie Spent the day at Springers      Saw Dolly  (had fever)
[BTM] Rhoda & Lillie  “Spent the day” at the Franklin Springer home.   Dolly is always  mentioned in conjunction with the Springers, but have not identified her maiden name as yet.   She was the wife of Hunt as mentioned many times in Rhoda’s diary(s).

2 Day     old man got home   John and Sarah come      Frank went to Barts    Alan would not make a fire in the Stove    I think he was mad because Frank was gone    I was vexed at him     John made the fire and I did not care any more about it     old man got mad at Alan they Settled up
[BTM] John W. and Sarah Ellen (Yandell) TOTTY, was Rhoda’s son and dau-in-law.  Frank went to see his bro-in-law Bart Traylor.   Alan may likely be Alan Phenix, or some other unidentified Alan/Allen that was just a boarder/worker at the TOTTY home.  Rhoda failed to mention that this was John Whitfield TOTTY’s  33rd birthday.

3 Day   Alan gone to Bourland this morning to get to board there    carried his trunk   (well a good evening)     Bart and Tilda  come Staid all night
[BTM] Sounds like Alan may have been a boarder at the TOTTY home, now according to Rhoda he has moved over to the Bourland’s home.

4 Day    Bart and Tilda gone to Mathises     Frank picking cotton   old man nearly Sick with cold    I am feeling very well So glad
[BTM] Bart and Tilda (Totty) Traylor went to see James Mathis, he was the husband of Sarah Jane (Totty) eldest d/o Willie C. TOTTY, Sr., the bro-in-law of Rhoda.

5 Day      the great day of the election    all the men gone to the Burg to vote     me and the children went to Bens 
6 Day    my birth day   54 to day    warm   and clear   high South Wind   Frank picking cotton    old man lying on his pallet    Mrs Springer Spent the night     Lillie went to Johns
[BTM] Elizabeth Springer was the mother of Mollie, Duck and Mag and wife of Franklin their Next door neighbor in HH#369/370, in same HH is William PARKER age 20.   Rhoda’s dau Lillie went to see her older brother John Whitfield Totty.

7 Day   Nov thick fog this morning Bally spent the evening   very warm
8 Day  Still warm   Frank picking Cotton   heard Connons firing,  Somebody glad that Somebody is elected    Whitty got done picking Cotton come to the house    him and the old man talked Some    Marshal come to night   Staying all night   old man talking some again 
9  Day went to Crosses (   ) before day  rained all day    dressed a little Kelly     Ida brought me home just at night
[BTM] This is most likely Ollie A. KELLY son of Wm and Ellie C. KELLEY in HH#62/63 of 1880 census, Precinct #4 showned as age 1.    Could Ellie C. be a dau of the Cross family since she was at the home when the child was born?

10 Day     cleared off   warm..   old man had a chill    Frank gone off with George   duck come to see Lillie    Jase and Ben Started to with here cotton     Louisa come Staid   all Norther blew up cool to night
[BTM] Frank spends a lot of time with George SPRINGER, brother to Mollie, his other sister Duck came to visit Lillie.   Jase TILLMAN and Ben GAGE taken their cotton to?  Rhoda did not fill in the place they started to.   Ben’s wife Louisa came to stay with her parents.

11  Day    Cold Louisa went home     Lillie went with her     old man taking mole medicine
[BTM] Yuck, “mole medicine” sounds awful, but it must have been useful for what ailed them back then.   Can anyone tell us what mole medicine was? 

12 Day     Frank picking Cotton       old man and me went to the mill      I bought Some goods and went to Johns
[BTM] Rhoda may likely have gone to see John W. her son or John Harville her son-in-law.

13   Day      old man Started to court     me and Lillie went with him to Jases     Staid with Bettie all night
[BTM] Rhoda takes every chance she gets to stay with one of her married daughters.

14 Day     Started home    come to Bobs Staid all night with Manda
[BTM] Manda is Amanda Perrin BEAN, wife of Bob BEAN,  neighbors in HH#373/373, near Rhoda & Capt. TOTTY in HH#370/371 on the 1880 Montague Co. Census for Precinct #3.

15 Day     Started on come    to Crosses     rested and come on home    glad to get here   nobody her but me Frank and Lillie
[BTM] Rhoda did not say, but sounds like she was walking, not riding, as she was on her way home.   The Crosses were next door neighbors to Rhoda, so she was “almost” home.

November the 16 Day    Franks birthday   21 to day   him and me Set up and talked last night till after midnight    he thinks he is his own man now but he is my boy yet    old man got in brought a Clock    Joe Marshall Set till bed time
[BTM] Rhoda was very close to all her children.    I can picture her sitting up and talking to her son discussing his feelings of being “his own man” at age 21.   Generally at this age the son’s were already married.    Frank must have been a devoted son still living at home and helping his parents.

17 Day   Sunday      Set my Clock up its ticking away    got dinner   Springers  Box  Leathers and Nolen took diner.   All went off with Frank    old man and me went to Bens   walked So tired had fever when I got home
[BTM] Don’t you know she was very proud of that Clock and the company of the ticking sound when she was alone!   The SPRINGER, BOX, LEATHERS and NOLEN/NOWLAND families were all neighbors of the TOTTY families in Montague Co. on the 1880 census.   Louisa BOX married  John Smith Barlow WALKER the brother of Andrew WALKER both sons of Francis Marion WALKER living in HH#HH412/414 family.

18 Day      finished my dress      John and Pea Come glad to See my boys     Chad Come he is awful ugly but means no harm     Lillie cooked Supper
19 Day     Bally Spent the day always glad to see her    Chad got his hog   Filo Staying all night..   Cut Lillies dress and Been Sewing

20 Day       old man went to Pella    Frank    finished picking cotton   heard Lou Mathis died this morning   Sorry for her folks to night
[BTM] Can anyone Identify who Lou Mathis would be?  What connection to, Rhoda and Capt’s nephew, James A. Mathis could there be?

21 Day     old man took opium gone to bed     Frank went and got the Mule    Huntes got their company      I cut out a pair of pants    Bart come by  been to the burying
[BTM] Bart Traylor went to the burying of Lou Mathis mentioned above.   Was this Dolly and Hunt who “got their company”? or a different HUNT family.

22  Day    old man Still Sick      Frank Hauling his cotton      Lillie gone to Bens (warm and clear)     Dilard brought Buck      James was here talked some      Dolly come left her baby   I had a mind to run her off for not bringing it
[BTM] Capt & Rhoda had a neighbor William DILLARD in HH#387/388 in the 1880 census, this is likely their neighbor who borrowed and bringing back their Mule.    The baby Dolly left was most likely the one Rhoda recently “dressed” for Dolly and was anxious to see how the little one was doing.

November 23 Day      Frank gone to the gin      Lewis Totty and family come     John and Sarah   Jase and Bettie     all Staid all night     old man Sick
[BTM] Lewis TOTTY was likely Lewis Henry, s/o Willie C. TOTTY and nephew to Rhoda & Capt. F.M. TOTTY.   John and Sarah were John and Sarah (Yandell) TOTTY, their son along with Jase and Bettie (Totty) TILLMAN their son-in-law and daughter. Gr Gr grandpa F. M. could not have enjoyed their company as much as he would have liked to,  since he was sick. 

24 Day  Sunday     Louisa and Tilda come would have had a gay time     but old man too Sick to enjoy it     Frank gone to meeting     all went home but Tilda      She is Staying with us
[BTM] Rhoda loved it when she had company, especially her daughters.

25  Day     Cold Snowed a little     Frank went to –Pella- the Burg     John brought the ponies    Tilda and Ada Staying with me
[BTM] Rhoda crossed out the twp of Pella and wrote the Burg, maybe she thought he went to Pella and found out later that he went to Forestburg instead. 

26  Day     Still Cold      Tilda got on her pony and Started home     Frank went and run his horse    beat his antagonist     Ben come
[BTM] Who was Frank’s antagonist in the horse race?  Surely not his sister Tilda<VBG>!   Ben GAGE come to visit his in-laws. 

27 Day      Fresh norther..     Frank and Bourland hauling Cotton to the gin     got done   I am glad of that
[BTM] Frank was hauling cotton to gin with his neighbor Samuel Robert Bourland, husband of Balzora “Bally” Springer BOURLAND and his future in-laws.

28 Day     old man  went to See Bally     Frank and Bourland killed a hog   old man went to Bens
[BTM] The TOTTY family did not let sickness keep them down, here Capt TOTTY is just getting over being so sick and he is off visiting Bally (Springer) BOURLAND, then Ben GAGE his son-in-law.

29 Day     Frank and George hauling wood  fixing to Start in the morning to market   Billy Spencer called      Pea come to Stay with me
[BTM] Here we find Frank with George SPRINGER again, being friends and neighbors they must have worked well together on their farms.    Rhoda’s SPENCER kin visiting her again.   Son Pea must be living away from home as he has not been mentioned much here lately.

30 Day       rolled out for Fort Worth   glad to See them Start So tired of fixing
[BTM] This would be Frank and George SPRINGER taking their wood to market.

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Transcribed from Original Diary by Birdie (Totty) McNutt ©2000