September 1877

First Day of September      Mr Totty very sick high fever     I am almost crazy about him     John TOTTY and his Uncle was here     John and Anna here tonight and Bart and Tilda      Frank got home    Hildreth went to the store
[BTM] Who is this John TOTTY and his Uncle?  Could it be the unidentified John TOTTY from Harris County, Texas that was married to Mary Louise BROWN?

2nd Day of September     Thunder and rain this morning     Anna had a chill      Tilda Sick     Sid and Ade both on the Sick list     Mr Totty a little better this morning     Frank went to Jases Said Jase was Sick    John and Anna gone home     Pea went to Wirtmans     Tilda Staid with me  glad of that      Wind cool from the east to night
[BTM] "Sid" is Sidney Elijah HARVILL son of John & Anna TOTTY HARVILL and Ade is Ada Irene Traylor, daughter of Bart and Matilda TOTTY TRAYLOR. 

3rd Day    rain rain  a big rain to day       Ben come Staid till evening        old man taken a big dose of opium     Slept all day says it done him good       I hope it did but I fear when the efects are gone he will be worse    Young got home   I made a pair of pants   Tilda been Sewing on Adas dress    Still cloudy to night
[BTM]  Opium must have been used back then as a cure all for maleria fever according to Rhoda's diaries.  Every one seemed to be sick with Maleria in the TOTTY families.

4th Day  rain again this morning    Ben come Said Bettie come to his home though the rain and mud  Jase was very Sick   Ben went to the store for medicine    old man and Frank had chills to day   Allen come to night
[BTM] Does anybody know who this Allen is?   Rhoda speaks of him often in her diaries.  Could he be a neighbor or relative?

5th Day of September     Still cloudy and misting rain      Mr Totty very Sick all day    very uneasy about him     Frank got fever to night him and Alen hauld a load of corn     Daniel was here
[BTM] Daniel is likely Rhoda’s half brother Daniel SPENCER or could be Daniel WALKER?  neighbor of Wm ALLEN.   Here Rhoda spells the name Alen with only one “l”, is this the same person as Allen above?   Did she spell the names different to distinguish them apart? 

6th Day     John Totty here looks bad    Harville and Bart took dinner     Ben here says Jase is very Sick  Bart and Tilda gone there to night     old man a little better     Lillie and Frank both had chills to day     Bourland got the kettle    Hessie here after it     Sue went after peaches    Alen Staying all night    I believe thats all
[BTM] Again we find Rhoda mentioning John TOTTY who must also have a bout of Malaria or something.     Could the Sue mentioned above be Susan Langdon TOTTY daughter of John E. TOTTY?   Is the John TOTTY also mentioned, John E. TOTTY and if so, was he still alive in 1877 and not killed by Indians in 1866? Just a thought…trying to figure out who this John TOTTY is that Rhoda is writing about.

7th Day     Bart and Tilda got back      Cox come   old man better missed his fever    John and Sarah gone to Harvilles
8th   Day the Womack man brought the papers    Hodges here this evening     Frank had no chill   Lillie had a chill    rain this morning     Bart come to night  Staid all night
[BTM] Hodges is most likely Capt and Rhoda’s neighbor Ben Hodges.

September the 9th     Sunday  Bart and Tilda gone =Bean=[crossed out]   Ben and Louisa come brought their boy  brother Heltner took dinner      Dolly Spent the evening glad to See Dolly     John and Sarah Staying all night glad to have them Stay     Alen killed guss    Lillie cried    Frank and Pea went to meeting    James E. Harville maried today.
[BTM] James E. Harvill is the father of John E. Harvill husband of Anna TOTTY Harville, he was married to Julia A. Bonard  according to the marriage records on file in Montague Co., TX.  His first wife Sarah Truett may likely have died sometime prior to this date. 

10th Day Monday       Frank hauled a load of corn to Jases  found nobody at home      Lane come to bring the Sack       Still hear more about the CATES murder   I want him hung  think I could See him kick    I went to See Baly this evening
[BTM] Could Lane be the Wade W. LANE found in the 1880 Montague Co. TX census?   He is living next door to the William T. ALLEN family and next to them is the widower Daniel WALKER family along with the Lanier families in the Sixth Dist.  Could this LANE and WALKER family be associated to John Whitfield TOTTY through his first wife Martha Anna WALKER TOTTY.   John & Lane are mentioned together a number of times.   Just a thought!    Rhoda is very upset over the murder of Cates, anybody know if we have a CATES family connection in TX? In the 1880 Montague Co. Census HH160/163, we find the family of Robert CATES age 47 born in TN, wife Mary 31, AR, son Robert 18 TX TN TN, Nathaniel 13 TX TN TN, Charles 11 TX TN TN, and John age 7 TX TN TN.  Who was the mother of these children and what happened to her?  Could they also be from Hickman Co. TN?

11th Day   Craddock brought his mill    Frank brought  Margaret   Dolly come down this evening   very warm to night
September th 12th 1877     Ben and Louisa Jase and Bettie Spent the day     Mrs Bourland and Mollie come this evening     Sprinkled rain     Frank went to the trial   Pea worked at the mill      Lillie went home with Bettie
13th Day    Mrs Throckmorton  Spent the evening     John got the mule and went to the Store   me and Margaret made Lillies dress     Craddock Still grinding away at .....me  his mill been waggons coming and going all day
14th Day     Same monotonous going and coming of waggon and men out round the old mill     Margaret washed     old man rode out went to Bens       Jase come down      John was here Said Sarah was sick
15th Day      Mr Totty went to the Burg     Frank hauled Stocks to the mill    Lillie come home   Willie C  come up to day      Professor Roberts  Jim Craddock and Alen took Supper      big Candy Stew at Youngs to night

BTM NOTE:  Here Rhoda changes paper type and this little stack of papers have deteriorated away so badly that only about 2/3rds of these page's are still together.   Where the parts of page are gone  I will put a line of dots.    The dates from the 16th to the 28th of September 1877 are completely destroyed by deterioration.

September the 2......
           1877.........
come home found all w.........
Frank went to the camp............
went to see Mrs Young    Billie.............
Ben and Louisa come down.........
30th Day   Sunday had lots of ..........
Bat and Caracer   Harville and    .........
Louisa and Bally and Margaret and  ........
went to see Ida     Frank got here from a.....
very warm to night  hope for a northern   light rain
 

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