Family Diaries & a 1925 Meteor Sighting

Rediscovering old, musty journals of long-dead family members was a treat. You never know what you will find!
Nancy

Dec. 8, 1885

Cold & pleasant. H* gone to Hardwick. Wm** don’t know where to go, but goes to the Bend this afternoon pleasant & cold. I iron, cut R*** a shirt, sew some. H comes home.
*H might be her son Harvey by Joseph Bean **Wm is her 2^nd husband William Folsom. ***R might be her son Russel.
Lodema Kingsbury Bean Folsom (age 58)
*she remarried after Joseph Abner Bean died fighting in the Civil War

Dec. 8, 1925 South Fairlee, VT
32˚ a. Cloudy, some sun at noon, spit snow p.m.  F.* & R. go to woods with both horses. I wash, mop, and help H. with barn chores, saw. Write to Willard J. Fisher, Harvard College Observatory about meteor.** Write to John C. Badger about our branch of family.
*F is her husband Frank (actually Benjamin Franklin Badger) R is her son Ralph.  **newspaper clipping attached earlier where she wrote to paper about seeing the meteor on Nov. 5

Eva Bean Badger (age 62)

Dec. 8, 1932 Pittsfield, NH

Doctor calls to see Paul. Says he is overtired.
*Paul is my late father-in-law
Lester Bean Badger 

Dec. 8, 1971 Peterboro, NH

Tommey ‘17* 24˚. Sunny. Change my bed & wash. Vac & dust mop all around. L** writes, does dishes & dusts. Cloudy in p.m. After naps L writes & I fold & put away clothes. Address some more cards.
*This is Dorothea Sawyer Badger, their daughter-in-law & it is her birthday. (my late mother-in-law) Her nickname is Tommey Sawyer. **L is his wheelchair-bound wife, Lillian Robinson, my husband’s grandmother.
Lester Bean Badger

A TREASURE TROVE OF FAMILY HISTORY

The dairies and cash expenditure booklets came to us through my husband's family, and when our son visited the other day, he and I started sorting them. The astonished look on his face as he read the writer's name and the date, made me realize we'd found treasure!
This is one reason why I am sharing these snippets of daily life, mostly in northern New England, and far from the 'easy life' we live today.

Enjoy! Comments welcome.

Nancy

West Wheelock, looking toward Greensboro, Vermont

Nov 22 1874 West Wheelock, VT
Pleasant, 10 degs above zero. Don’t go to meeting. Russel gone to meeting. Very nice evening.
Lodema Kingsbury Bean Folsom  (age 47)
*she remarried after Joseph Abner Bean died in the Civil War

Nov 22 1937 West Fairlee, VT

22˚  Ground a bit white with snow. Spits snow some during day. Fluvia about, sick with cold. No callers. F & I read and think.
Eva Bean Badger  (age 74)

Nov 22 1969 Peterborough, NH

17˚  Clear & cold NW wind. We shop some. L gets dress from Ward’s.
Lester Bean Badger  (age 76)

Nov 22 1972 Peterborough, NH

13˚  sunny. 10: Haircut. I shop a bit. L doesn’t get out of car. Goes to bed when we have had a bit to eat. She feels some better in eve & eats good supper. Listen to Celtics * in eve.
*Boston Celitcs Basketball team
Lester Bean Badger  (age 79)