October 1880

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October the first Day  1880 come home   have Mr. Springer for an escort      feel very bad to day     Frank and Mollie go to Bourlands to night     Lillie to Mrs Marshalls   all Say they wont go if I don’t promise to go to Mr Taylors     I tell them I can make out very well  thinking all the time of staying by my self but Ben and Louisa and Pea all come   I was glad
[BTM]  Rhoda came home from Sam and Bally Bourland where she delivered a baby girl named Cora Bourland.   Bally’s father is Rhoda’s escort home after she delivered his grandbaby.  Mollie and Frank the new Aunt and Uncle go to visit the new family member.   Lillie was going to visit the neighbor Mary Marshall, the widow of Joseph Marshall.   Mary Marshall and  Mary Taylor were next door neighbors, I supposed that they felt with Lillie next door at the Marshall’s they felt Rhoda would be near by at the George Taylor place if they were needed, but daughter Louisa Gage and family along with Pea came home to save Rhoda from going off. Rhoda gets to stay home but not by herself.
 

2 Day of October   Captains got home   I finished my dress and made a shirt for Pea   Ida come home with Lillie   Pea gone to meeting
[BTM] Captain home of being a “candidate” and campaigning for Judge.   Rhoda is always sewing for her family, this time making a shirt for her youngest son Lewis Pete “Pea” Totty.   Ida Marshall was the daughter of Mary where Lillie visited yesterday.
 

3 Day  Sunday    Frank and Mollie gone to Mr Springers    Lillie Ida and Duck have a gay time   old man and me to to Mr Taylors   Mr and Mrs Warren there
[BTM] Rhoda and Capt. Totty went to visit George and Mary Taylor.  John and Anna’s Harville’s neighbor were visiting the Taylor’s.  Lillie and her friends Ida Marshall and Julia “Duck” Springer had a good time playing, I wonder if they were playing with dolls, playing house or just games during their pre-teen years? Or were they sewing at that age?
 

4 Day   Cold this morning men gathering corn we had a grape pie for dinner   Charley here to night all talking Some about Bear hunting and such like
<CKW> Charley would be Charley DOUTHET, he and his wife MARY were formerly
boarding with the CAPTAIN and RHODA.  I've never heard of a 'grape pie' - have any of you?
 

5 Day 27 years ago I left my home in Tenessee and Started for the far west   bid farewell to friends and kindred Country and all and traveled 6 weeks toward the Seting Sun   Landed on Clear Creek in Cook County   oh the trials troubles and Hardships I have gone through in the 27 years..   but there is a rest for the weary    and I Still hope to find the glorious rest)   had a Candidate to take dinner   a Mr Dixon   Joe May told me he had got his boys home    wagner come   brough my tucker for the Machine
[BTM] This documents the time when Rhoda and Captain Totty left Hickman County, Tennessee and made the six week journey to Cooke County, Texas.   Lots of stories she could have told us if only she kept her diaries during the whole time when she left Tennessee and came to Texas before she started writing in May of 1876.  What history she could have filled us in on for our families.    I for one appreciate the diaries that she did leave for her descendants to read.  Thank you Rhoda!
<CKW> This is so neat to know exactly when Francis & Rhoda left Tennessee.  I
do not know who Mr. DIXON is either.  Joe MAY and son FRANKLIN are living with George & Mary TAYLOR family in 1880 census HH #355.  Wagner would be David WAGNER living in HH #199, the sewing machine agent.  I wonder just what a 'tucker' was - did they have an attachment to make pleats?

6 Day   I helped the Captain dress and opened the gate for him and he Started off again Said he was going to gueens peck    I got on ball went to Jases   Louisa was there   I Staid till after dinner   Come home   Mrs Springer and Mrs. Mixon was here
[BTM] Supposedly Captain Totty was off on the campaign trail again, with Rhoda making sure he was dressed for the occasion.   Queens Peck was one of the old town near Montage & Cooke County, located in Limestone County.  It was an important Indian Look Out and signal post.  “Legend was that a white girl Victoria who lived around Waxahachie was kidnapped by an Indian Chief, who lived at the bottom of the Peak.   Indian Lore  He took her for a wife and each year had a pow wow on the anniversary of her death at her grave.  It is said she is buried on “the Peak”.  Settlers named the community Victoria Peak, but the post office said there was already a Victoria, Texas.  Queen’s Peak was the suggested name from the post office.”.  Rhoda did not like being alone at home so she was off to visit her daughter Bettie and also found daughter Louisa to visit.   Mollie’s mother was there along with the Mrs. Mixon who still has not been identified yet.
 

7 Day      Frank Hauling Corn    I went to Mr Taylors  This evening I got calomel to kill screw flies   Sol Cook was here
[BTM] Son Frank was hauling his corn, to market?   Rhoda went to visit George and Mary Taylor.   I am sure that Rhoda wanted to make sure that the animals were not infested with screw worms from those flies, they are no fun trying to get rid of them.   Solomon “Sol” Cook was the next door neighbor of Sam and Bally Bourland on the 1880 census.   Dr. Fanning was living in his household.
(JKW) Rhoda was worried about screw flies.  Rex L WALL ( grandson of M.A. and
Minnie TOTTY WALL) said screw flies ( aka known as blow flies) usually lay their eggs in open wounds.  "They hatch into screw worms which eat at the flesh and can sometimes kill the animal.  Blow flies and screw worms thrive on dead flesh until the carcass is gone.  When one castrated calves he used preventative medicine to avoid screw worms -- at one time they were the cowman's worst enemy."

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October the 8th     Mollies birth day  She baked a cake    her mamy and sisters helped her to eat it   Frank and Pea gathering corn
[BTM] Mollie’s “mamy” was Elizabeth Zilphia (Smith) Springer, her sister’s were Bally Bourland, Mag, Sue and Duck Springer sharing her 22nd birthday with her “birthday cake.”    Husband Frank and his brother Pea out working in the fields.
 

9 Day   I am tired of Staying and taking care of things  So I put on my new dress go with Mrs Springer to the Burg     She went to be doctored      I Set by and watched the process   Kirken doll was the Dr  he picked away all over Shoulders neck and arms with his needles      Mrs Sol Cook and Mrs Web was also picked on     I met a good many people and passed the day very well Come back home)   got a letter from John
[BTM]  Seems to me that Rhoda is having a bound of depression coming on.   I am glad she chose to dress up and go visiting with Mrs. Elizabeth Springer and to Forestburg.  Now wonder why or what Dr. Kuykendall was “picking on” these ladies with needles for?   Could it have something to do with the screw flies?    Rhoda must have been very happy to hear from her Arkansas  son John Whitfield Totty, [my great grandfather through his son Green Whitfield Totty and his son, my father Vernon Estell Totty,]  I only wish the letters were saved and kept for his descendant’s to read.

10 Day  Sunday   Pea got on ball went with Sim  I gave them a good talking   Sim thanked me for the advise and went on and I expect done as they pleased..   Jase and Bettie  come  Lillie and Duck went to See Ida..   Lewis Totty and Cal Jenkins  Come Staid till evening..   now they are all gone    I will just go to Taylors   that is all the spite I can do   So I went   Joe May Sick  I Saw his boys and they were fine looking boys
[BTM] Who is Sim?  Could he be the neighbor Marion Simpson who recently moved in with his wife Laura?  Why would a 17 year old be traveling with an older 26 year old.   According to earlier mentions of Sim, he was good at quoting the  bible.  Could  Sim be a boy the same age as Pea?  Boys will be boys.   Lewis Totty, Rhoda’s nephew came by to visit with Cal Jenkins, his brother in law? Possibly husband of Vernie Jane Wheeler Jenkins.  Rhoda off visiting George and Mary Taylor again.  Is this George Taylor who married Mary Van in Sumner Co., TN??    Joseph “Joe” May was living in the household of George Taylor, could he be a son in law of George? Or is in only a border living their with his son Franklin May.
<CKW>Sim should be Sim HESTER mentioned by full name way back on June 30, 1876.  Possibly son of Davis and Phoebe HESTER.  Their son HENRY was the one who threatened JASE and they had the 'reckoning'.  SIM brought the ax and threw it over the fence and HENRY was asked to leave the country.  I guess time heals all wounds.  In light of all the wonderful letters recently posted by Judy, the reference to Lewis TOTTY and Cal JENKINS is more meaningful.

11 Day    Sim and Pea got in about 3 oclock afoot   old ball come up with a brush to his tail     they Start back to hunt Sims pony   Frank Mollie and Lillie picking Cotton   I go to Taylors to borrow coffee
[BTM]  Who is Sim?  Anyone know, please clue us in.   The newly weds Frank and Mollie out picking Cotton with little sister Lillie.   Rhoda going back to George and Mary Taylors.
 

12 Day   Pea got back again in the night Said Sim found his pony with a brush to its tail     the boys are mad and I cant blame them     and I am awful fraid they will get in trouble before it is done     all hands picking cotton    I wrote a letter to Anna   sent it by watch     went to Bens   Seen Bettie and Jase   all talking some about Mun Stealing the Cotton..
[BTM]  As well said Boys will be Boys even to getting into trouble, Pea should most likely, be out picking cotton with the rest of the hands and staying out of trouble.   Did Rhoda write a letter to her daughter Anna or another Anna?   Who is Mun that they are accusing of stealing cotton?
<CKW>What were PEA and SIM doing while their horses were unattended?  Was someone playing a practical joke on them by tying a brush to the horses tail which made them run away??  A Mr. MUNN was mentioned earlier, but I still don't know who he is.
(JKW)  In her Oct. 1880 diary Rhoda mentions Pea and Sim finding their horses with "a brush in its tail".   According to my great-uncle Pat (Patrick Dale WALL- son of  M.A. and Minnie TOTTY WALL), if someone had a horse of  which they were proud  someone who was jealous might "shear the horse's tail and just leave a 4 to 6 inch brush at the end of the tail.  The hair on the horse's tail was like the mane on the neck.  It was part of his beauty."  That could explain why the boys were so angry and Rhoda was worried about trouble coming from the event.

13 Day     Sick this morning just about as Soon be dead as not   not quite though   got on ball went to Harvilles   the Dispatch come through all right    Bart told me Tilda was Sick   So uneasy about her   now I cant rest
[BTM] The Dispatch was the newspaper Rhoda so looked forward to reading and catching up on all the news.   Bart, advised Rhoda that her daughter Tilda, his wife was sick.   Rhoda was always uneasy when one of her children was ill.
 

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1880  October the 14    rain last night   Frank and Mollie gone to Bourlands   Lillie and I washing Bettie come got the ear ache    Lillie gone to Barts to night    Charly Said he had Sold his place   going to Start off after his cattle     got Franks over coat     I am Sorter looking for the Captain and Sorter not and feel Sorter mad   and don’t care much who knows it
[BTM]  Charly is moving away, is that part of the reason Rhoda is sorter mad or is she just upset with Capt. Totty being away from home so much?  Bettie (Totty) Tillman, daughter of Rhoda and Capt. is now sick, this makes the second daughters sick so far this month.  And what more is to come for Rhoda and the family!
 

15 Day   Lillie Come home Said Anna is Sick wants me to come   I go Send for Cox he comes   I think She will die now I am uneasy  sure enough    I am glad the Dr Come  great Confidence in him
[BTM]  I am like Rhoda, oh Lord what more can they stand with Anna becoming sick.   Dr. Cox was someone Rhoda trusted in the care of her children.
 

16  Day     Start home    meet the Captain turn back    go back and Stay with Anna  her pale haggard face haunts me So I cant Sleep after I got home Louisa and Bettie are gone there to night   Pea and Sim come in the night
[BTM]  Captain made it home just in time to find out his daughter was ill.   Rhoda was worried about Anna but I am sure she was glad her other daughter’s were there with Anna.   The wondering Boys came home.
 

17 Day  Sunday a bright frosty morning   So anxious to hear from Anna     Frank and Mollie go to See how She is   they come back She is worse   I feel now that She is bound to die   oh what and awful day I have passed   We get on our horses go to See her    meet Lousia and Bettie  they Say they think there is a Chance for her    drownding rain will catch at a straw  (I hope a little)   Bart went for Dr Scales   did not get him
[BTM]  Now Dr. Scales was seeing Anna and she is making no progress, although Louisa and Bettie are hoping there is chance she will get better, Rhoda is still very worried and grabbing at straw’s.
 

18 Day  She Seems a little better think better  thinks She will get well ( oh my Lord I hope so)  Lillie Staid we come home and try to rest I cant Anna is in my mind all the time   but if she dies our loss will be her gain for she will be done toiling and suffering and be at rest   I See to men come in at the big gate   I make a Sign if one of them is rideing  John Harvilles horse   Anna will die they come on it is Pulum and John Mcgee    I try to think it is a good Sign   Frank and Mollie gone to Harvilles   P:ullum and Mcgee Staying all night they are talking Some about the war and all Such Stuff    I am not interested in the conversation
[BTM]  Hopeful thinking, Rhoda is so wanting her daughter to get well.     Alonzo Pulliam was the brother in law of Wade Atkins who was married to Mary (Penton) Atkins.    John Mcgee was highly likely John Magee, brother of the widow Mary (Magee) Southward a neighbor of John and Anna Harville.

October the 19 Day   they come back Say the Dr come put a blister on Anna   my heart Sinks again we go to See her   I dry up the blister   Ben and Louisa comes   I am So glad   now I can go home  SIS is here
[BTM] Who is Sis?  Was she a sister of Rhoda or Captain?   All Rhoda can think about is how sick her daughter Anna is.
<CKW>  Does anybody know exactly what a 'blister' was?  They used leeches
back then and made poultices from herbs for different maladies.  I would
guess something like the latter.  I think RHODA is probably just referring
to LOUISA being ANNA's sister.  Perhaps ANNA called LOUISA 'Sis' as a
nickname.
<CKW>  This was so sad.  RHODA never did mention exactly what they thought
was wrong with ANNA except that she had fever.  I wonder what she died from?

20 Day  go to See Anna again She is no better   Sisters Pierce and Whitly here we work with her all day and all night
[BTM] Amanda (Pierce) Whitley was married to Hiram C. Whitley.  Mrs. Jane Pierce/Pearce was the mother in law of Andrew Walker and his wife Sarah (Pearce) Walker all neighbors helping each other in their time of need.  How sad for Rhoda to go through this time.
 

21 Day  Dr Scales come says he thinks She will get well   I try to think So we come home   I can hardly Set up  Worn out  fever I will be down   Pea gone to night   Charly got back as I am writing   from a trading for cows
[BTM] Rhoda is making herself sick worring over her sick daughter Anna (Totty) Harville.   Charly came back, no mention was made of Mary his wife.   Have they already moved away?
 

22 Day   Frank and Mollie get back from Harvilles   Say Anna is a heap better   Lillie Sewing on her dress   I cut out a pair of pants
[BTM] Good news from Frank and Mollie makes Rhoda relax enough to take her mind off Anna long enough to start a pair of pants for her husband.
 

23 Day    go to Harvilles think Anna is better feel So thankful   Mr Totty gone to the Burg to the Speaking   We Stay all night    Sleep none     hardly out of heart again Anna looks like She cant live
[BTM] Rhoda is losing heart about Anna ever getting well.   I pray I will never have to watch any of my children die like Rhoda has in the past.
 

24  Day  Sunday   come home to bed     all the rest go to meeting except the old man     Hixon Siting with us     All get in but Pea     his Pap mad gets on a horse at dark and Starts to hunt him..   did not find him he got home at 3
[BTM] I can just picture Capt. Totty out riding his horse looking for his son Pea.   If he was anything like my grandpa Green he had a good ole TOTTY temper, as my Mom used to say about my Dad Vernon.   At least that is one Totty gene I did not inherit.    Hixon is most likely H. M. Hixon living in HH#231/253 in the Village of Forestburg.
 

25  Day  we go to Harvilles think Anna is a little better   hope So at least   She has no fever    we come home   Lillie Stayed to nurse the baby    Captain surveyed at the Burg
[BTM] Rhoda still in hope’s of Anna getting better.   Anna’s sister, Lillie, stayed to help take care of her little one month old, black headed baby boy.
 

26 Day   Mollie gone to See Anna    Bettie come      Frank and his pap hauling their first  Cotton to the gin   Bettie gone to Harvilles to night       (raining)      Whitly  Lay out left just at night  guess they got wet    I made the Captain  a pair of pants  think they was the hardest thing to Sew  I ever Saw
[BTM]  Mollie gone to see her sis-in-law Anna (Totty) Harville.   The Totty woman are all sticking together taking care of Anna.   Rhoda finished the pair of pants she started  a few days before.  Whne ones mind is not whole heartedly on the project, it makes the task that much harder.   Rhoda had so much on her mind with Anna being so sick, it was a wonder she got anything done.
 

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27th October    Bettie and Lillie come home Mr Totty and I go to Harvilles   he goes to the Burg   I am out of heart about Anna   got fever looks awful badly  we come home at night try to get Pea to go he wont go   we cant help it
[BTM] Family still taking turns staying and caring for Anna (Totty) Harville wife of John Harville.   Pea however seemed to be a typical teenage boy with other things to do, which did not make his father and mother to happy at this time.
 

28 Day  coldest morning that has been    Bettie washing   Whitlys picking cotton.    Lillie gone home with Bettie to night      looking for Jase from Gainsville      Frank and Mollie gone to Harvilles
[BTM]  Chores going on as usual, but family still watching after the very sick family member, Anna Harville.
 

29 Day ice this morning   Come back   Say Anna is better   Lillie come home   Mary Jane and Gus with her Pea gone to Pella    I walk about uneasy but think   I will go to Harvilles in the morning
[BTM]  Lillie come home bringing, Mary Jane and Augusta Gage, the children of Ben and Louisa (Totty) Gage,  with her.    Rhoda still so worried about her daughter Anna.
 

30 Day  Bart Come Says Ana is worse   I get on Joe and go get there Anna looks at me and Said that’s mother   oh my Lord She is dying..   but I am glad she knows me    Louisa Comes    She don’t know her    oh how She suffers   My heart aches   but cant do anything for her   but just wait for her to die     it is near midnight   She is gone  her sufferings are ended and She is at rest  I have been expecting this but oh it is So hard..
[BTM] Tears are flowing just reading and writing this part down, this is so sad.  My heart goes out to Rhoda and the family I never got to know in person, but they are still dear to me just knowing them from Rhoda’s special diaries.   At least Anna let Rhoda know she knew she was there for her when she breathed her last.
 

31  Day  Sunday feel badly got head ache    Company come in I get in the waggon with Ben and Louisa and come home    try to rest cant think of any thing but Anna resting in the Cold embrace of death   She will never Come to Mothers any more  nor sufer and cry any more but She will hear the trumpet Sound in that morning    I hope to meet her in that better world  where Sickness Sorrow pain and death are felt and feared no more
[BTM] It is no wonder that Rhoda feels bad, especially after she worked so hard trying to help Anna and lost her anyway.  Her heart was broken after loosing her 3rd child.
 

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 ©2001